Understanding Databases and Datasets
Go Up to Building Multi-tiered Applications
Databases contain information stored in tables. They may also include tables of information about what is contained in the database, objects such as indexes that are used by tables, and SQL objects such as stored procedures. See Connecting to Databases for more information about databases.
The InterBase page of the Tool Palette contains various dataset components that represent the tables contained in a database or logical tables constructed out of data stored in those database tables. See Selecting What Data to Show for more information about these dataset components. You must include a dataset component in your application to work with database information.
Each dataset component on the InterBase page has a published Database property that specifies the database which contains the table or tables that hold the information in that dataset. When setting up your application, you must use this property to specify the database before you can bind the dataset to specific information contained in that database. What value you specify depends on whether or not you are using explicit database components. Database components (TIBDatabase) represent a database in your application. If you do not add a database component explicitly, a temporary one is created for you automatically, based on the value of the Database property. If you are using explicit database components, Database is the value of the Database property of the database component. See Persistent and Temporary Database Components for more information about using database components.