Construire une base de données

Après la création de la base de données, comme expliqué dans Activité base de données...

• Ensuite, vous définissez le type de champs définissant l'information que vous souhaitez collectée. Par exemple, une base de données à propos de fameuses peintures pourrait avoir un champ d'image nommé Peintures, pour déposer un fichier d'image montrant la peinture et deux champs de texte nommés artiste et titre pour le nom de l'artiste et la peinture. Autrement, vous pouvez utiliser les préréglages de base de données (voir ci-dessous).
• Dès lors, l'option d'éditer les modèles se présente afin de modifier l'apparence des entrées de la base de données.It is then optional to edit the to alter the way in which the database displays entries.

Les champs

Un champ est une unité d'information. Chaque entrée d'une base de données peut avoir plusieurs champs de différents types e.g. un champ de texte nommé 'couleur favorite', ou un menu appelé 'état' pour choisir parmi les 50 qui composent les États-Unis d'Amérique. En combinant les multiples champs avec les noms appropriés vous devriez être en mesure de récolter toute l'information pertinente à votre base de données.

Prenez note que vous devrez cliquer sur le bouton 'Réinitialiser modèle' si vous apportez des modifications à vos modèles. Sinon, vous pouvez les éditer manuellement en ajoutant les nouveaux champs.

Field name and description

The name is what is shown when an entry is added. It must be unique and short. The description is for your benefit to help identify that field.

Field types

The following screenshots show "before" and "afters" of setting up fields. The selection in orange shows the field as it is displayed for the user when they add an entry.

Checkbox

This allows you to offer checkboxes for the user to select. Add the options one under the other. The word will appear next to a checkbox when the user clicks to add an entry. They can check more than one box.

Date

This allows a user to enter a date by picking a day, month and year from a drop down list.

File

Users can upload a file from their computer. If it is an image file then the picture field may be a better choice.

Latitude/longitude

Users can enter a geographic location using latitude and longitude. For example, Moodle HQ is at latitude -31.9545, longitude 115.877. When viewing the record, links are automatically generated linking to geographic data services such as Google Earth, OpenStreetMap, GeaBios,Mapstars and more. (The teacher can choose which of those links appear, if any.)

Menu

The text entered in the options area will be presented as a drop-down list for the user to choose from. Each line become a different option.

Menu (Multi-select)

The text entered in the options area will be presented as a list for the user to choose from and each line become a different option. By holding down control or shift as they click, users will be able to select multiple options. This is a fairly advanced computer skill so it may be wise to use multiple checkboxes instead.

Number

This allows users to enter any number. For example:

• 42
• -1000
• 0
• 0.123
• 3.0e8

(For those who care about the technical details, the field stores floating point numbers.)

Picture

This allows a user to upload and display an image file. "Single view" is when the image is viewed on its own; "list view" is when it is viewed in with other images. Single view can be larger than list view.

Radio buttons

The user gets radio buttons and can choose only one. They can only submit the entry when they have clicked on one button. (Note:If you only have two options and they are opposites (true/false, yes/no) then you could simply use a single checkbox instead. However checkboxes default to their unchecked status and so people could submit without actively selecting one of the options. This may not always be appropriate.)

Text

Users can enter text up to 60 characters in length. For longer text, or for text that requires formatting such as headers and bullet points, you can use a text area field.

Text area

This allows users to enter a long piece of text using the text editor.

URL

The user can add a link to a website here. If you select autolink then the URL becomes clickable.. If you also enter a forced name for the link then that text will be used for the hyperlink. For example in a database of authors you may wish people to enter the author's website. If you enter the text 'homepage' as a forced name then clicking on text "homepage" will take you to the entered URL.

Presets

To avoid the necessity of always having to create a new database from scratch, the database activity module has a presets feature. An image gallery preset is currently included in the database module to help get you started. You can create your own presets as well and share them with others.

Importing a preset

Fichier:databasepresetsnew.png

Database presets page

To use a preset:

1. On the database page, click the Presets tab.
2. The usual way to import a preset is clicking the "Choose file" button and browsing to the ZIP file containing the preset (eg. "preset.zip") stored on the server. If there does not yet exist a preset ZIP file on the server, upload it from your local machine. Choose the desired preset file by clicking on its action "Choose". Finally, press the "Import" button.
3. Alternatively, you can choose a previously loaded preset.
4. After the import, you can start to add or import entries. All the hard work of setting up the fields and templates has been done for you. If you desire, you can still customize the fields and templates.

You will see a "Overwrite current settings" checkbox after the "Import" button has been pressed. If checked, the database activity overwrites some of its current general settings by those stored in the preset:

• the "Introduction" HTML text
• "Required entries"
• "Entries required before viewing"
• "Maximum entries"
• "Comments"
• "Require approval?"
• rssarticles

Exporting a preset

If you wish to share your database presets with others, you have two options:

1. Export as a ZIP file, which can then be imported to another course or Moodle site.
2. Save as a preset, which publishes the database for other teachers on your site to use. It will then appear in the preset list. (You can delete it from the list at any time.)

Note: Only the fields and templates of the database are copied when exporting or saving it as a preset, not the entries.

Presets for download

The Activity Examples course on the School demo site has a number of database activities with presets for download.

See also

Using Moodle forum discussions:

• Can't get columns to line up in list view including moodle.org presets for download
• New preset, please review, and make suggestions! including FAQ preset for download
• Issue 53: Encyclopedia database preset including encyclopedia-style preset for download
• Issue 51 - Design a Database Preset for Document Sharing including preset for download
• Looking for some stellar examples of Moodle courses including book reviews preset for download
• Restricting access to database content by user? with research diary preset for download