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      • Collections

      Introduction

      In NocoBase, a Collection is the data model used to describe one category of business data. It is more than a database table name: it is NocoBase's unified description of a category of data.

      A collection usually defines three things:

      DefinitionDescription
      Where data is storedData can come from a main-database table, external-database table, SQL query result, database view, REST API resource, or external NocoBase application.
      Which fields it hasFields describe the information in each record, such as a customer name, mobile number, order amount, creation time, or owner.
      How NocoBase uses itBlocks, permissions, workflows, APIs, and relation fields all work with collections.

      You can think of a collection as the data structure for a business object. For example, Customers, Orders, Contracts, and Tasks can each be a collection.

      After you create or connect a collection, you usually need to do three more things:

      • Configure fields so that the collection can store the required business information
      • Add blocks to pages so that users can view, enter, and process data
      • Configure permissions, workflows, and APIs so that data can be accessed and processed according to business rules

      Collection structure types

      • General collection - Suitable for standard business data such as customers, orders, contracts, work orders, expense claims, projects, and tasks
      • Tree collection - Suitable for hierarchical data such as organizational structures, product categories, regional hierarchies, department directories, and knowledge-base directories
      • Calendar collection - Suitable for time-range data such as meeting-room reservations, project schedules, course schedules, duty rosters, and event calendars
      • Comment collection - Suitable for discussion content around business records, such as task comments, article comments, approval opinions, and customer feedback. Create a relation field in a business collection (general, tree, or calendar) to relate it to a comment collection, then add a comment block in a business-collection popup page to comment on business data
      • File collection - Suitable for file metadata such as contract attachments, invoice files, product images, and employee certificates. The files themselves are stored by the file-storage engine. Create a relation field in a business collection (general, tree, or calendar) to relate it to a file collection, then configure the relation field for file upload in a business-collection block. File metadata is automatically saved to the file collection
      • Database view - An existing database view, such as a financial-report view, filtered customer view, or aggregated view synchronized across systems
      • SQL collection - Suitable for using SQL query results as collections, such as sales summaries, inventory alerts, cross-table statistical reports, and operational dashboards
      • Inheritance collection - Suitable when several business objects share a group of common fields but each also has its own fields, such as an asset parent collection that has computer-asset, vehicle-asset, and office-furniture child collections