Entries are the containers which hold data in an application. They are comparable to “records” in a traditional database, or to a single row in a database table or spreadsheet. (However, not all spreadsheets conform to this model.)

Each entry in your application consists of a set of Fields. Each field holds a single piece of data. So if one thinks of an entry as a “thing”, the fields contain “facts” about that particular thing.

Each entry belongs to one or more Categories. When you add Fields to an entry, you associate them with a category so that other entries in the same category will have the same fields. This is how you create entries with similar data. (See below for more information on entries and categories.)

In Dabble DB, you create Views to work with entries that are related in some way. At its simplest, a view might show you all the entries in one category. You can then use Filters to narrow the selection of entries in a view.

To view or edit a particular entry, just click anywhere on the entry’s row in a Table view, or, if you’re working on a Calendar view, simply click the entry’s box. This will open the entry editor below the view.

Here is a more concrete example of using entries, and how those entries relate to applications, categories and fields.

In an application containing contact information, there is a category for people called Person. Each person has a name, an address, a phone number — and each of these attributes would be a field associated with the Person category. Each time you create a new entry, you will have a space to complete the fields with Field values for the person’s name, address, and phone number.

A single entry can belong to more than one category. Such an entry will have all of the fields from all of the categories that it belongs to. Read more about multiple categories.