Preparing the Database

Before creating the database, we need to do some planning. First of all, we will create a table. A table represents an entity, i.e. a set of attributes or objects.

For our first table, we will deal with magazine articles. Each entity instance, i.e. each article, will be defined by a set of attributes that will form our table columns. And each article will occupy a table row.

Here is the list of attributes that define an article:

• A unique identification number that will individually identify each article of the database.
  
  
• A title.
  
  
• An author name.
  
  
• A short introductory paragraph, which will be used in summary pages.
  
  
• A short descriptive paragraph, which will be used to briefly describe the article.
  
  
• The body of the text, i.e. the content of the article.
  
  
• The name of an image file to illustrate the article.
  
  
• A topic chosen from a list (Current Events, Music, etc.).
  
  
• An article category, also chosen from a list.
  
  
• A creation or last modification date.
  
  
• A variable of the yes or no type, to specify whether or not the article should be displayed (in the summary, for instance).