User`s guide

This button is available only when like items are selected (that is, if you select a table in the upper
list, you must select a table in the lower list).
Once the Update button is clicked, the new data source information is updated in the Current Data
Source list.
5.
Repeat steps 2 to 4 if necessary.
23.4 Working with aliases
For a variety of reasons, database names and locations get changed. If you create a report, then change
the name or location of a table or file, the Report Designer must be able to find the new name or location.
This is especially important when you create formulas in your report that access a table that has been
renamed or moved. To fix the reference for a single field would not be difficult, but to find every formula
that uses that field could be a difficult and time consuming task.
To solve this problem, the Report Designer uses aliases to refer to database tables and files. Aliases
are pointers, internal devices that tell the program where it should look for a database field. Now, if you
change the name or location of the database, you simply reset the pointer. See Changing data sources.
The name of the alias does not change, so your formulas are not affected. The Report Designer looks
to the alias for the location and name, goes to the new location for the database field, and executes
the formula without a problem.
The Report Designer automatically assigns default alias names to database tables when you first select
the table or file. By default, an alias matches the original name of the table. In databases where the
database table is a separate file (for instance, dBASE), the name of the database file is used without
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Understanding Databases