Categories are used to group similar Entries in your application and, by extension, to give each group the same Fields. Each field in Dabble DB is associated to one category. Each entry in that category will have all of its associated fields.

Categories are similar to what many database systems call “tables”, but they are more flexible. An item in a traditional database generally only belongs to a single table, but in Dabble DB, each entry can belong to multiple categories. Read more about multiple categories.

A simple application will generally have only one or two categories. For example, a Contact List application might only have a Contact category, with fields for Name, Address, Phone Number, and so on. A more complex application, like a Project Management application, might have categories for Project, Client, Milestone, Task, each with many fields.

The category bar

The bar near the top of the window lists the main categories for your application, with menus showing all of the views available for each. There is also a More menu which shows any categories that don’t fit as well as links for adding and configuring the categories.