User manual

32 Chapter 2 Using Libraries
As another example, the default Projects library records are composed of fields that
are useful for managing projects, such as fields for the project status, start and end
dates, and team member information.
Bento provides several ways for you to view the records of a library:
• Form view shows fields from a single record. Each page shows one record at a
time, for example, a single contact record in the Address Book library. You can
have more than one form view for the library. See
Chapter 5, “Using Form
View” on page 55.
• Table view shows the records in a table, for example, a list of the contacts in
the Address Book library. Each row in the table represents a single record in
the library. See
Chapter 6, “Using Table View” on page 65.
• Grid view displays at a glance the media fields and form thumbnails of a
selected library or collection. See
Chapter 7, “Using Grid View” on page 75.
• Split view shows a record in form view and table view or grid view at the same
time.
The remainder of this chapter describes how to create, use, and share libraries:
• You can create your own libraries by using library templates. See the
following section,
”Creating a Library Using the Bento Templates” on page 32.
• You can create a library by importing your own data. See ”Importing
Information into Bento” on page 104.
• You can share your libraries with up to five other Bento users on your local
network. See
”Sharing Your Bento Database” on page 34.
Creating a Library Using the Bento Templates
Before you create a library, think about the type of information you want to manage
with the library. Do you want to manage schedules and dates? Do you want to
manage contact information? Are you looking for a way to bring tasks and
assignments together in an event planner? Or do you want to manage a list of things,
such as inventory or equipment lists?
Bento provides library templates that create the fields to manage specific kinds of
information. These templates also apply pre-designed themes to the form views.
By selecting the library template that most closely fits the type of information you
want to manage, you create the library you need more quickly. If you can't find a
template for the kind of information you want to store, you can use the “Blank”
template and create a library of your own. After you create a library from a template,
you can customize the form view by adding or removing fields and changing the
theme.
Tip If you already have information from another application that you want to use in
Bento, see
”Importing Information into Bento” on page 104.