Creating a relational database

You can join layers to form a relational database. One layer serves as the source of the data. This layer, called the Secondary Table, usually contains an unconnected table, but you can also use another layer in your project as the source. The layer that receives the attributes from the Secondary Table is called the Primary Table.

When you join layers, you select one field in Primary Table and a corresponding field in the Secondary Table to serve as the key. The key is the common link between the layers. The attributes from the Secondary Table appear in the Primary Table.

The Secondary Table acts like a lookup table for the attributes. If you change the values in the Secondary Table, the Primary Table is automatically updated with the new values, as long as the tables are joined.

  1. Right-click the layer that you want to use as the Primary Table and click Attribute Manager.
  2. From the Tools menu in the Attribute Manager, click Table Join.
  3. In the Define Table Join window, click Browse.
  4. In the Select Layer window, choose the layer that you want to use as the Secondary Table.
  5. In the Primary Table's Attribute box, select an attribute.
  6. Select the attribute from the Secondary Table's Attributes box that you want to join with the attribute from the Primary Table's Attribute box.
  7. Click the Add button.
  8. Click OK.
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