Hello from a Filemaker renegade

[Brian Yennie]

> Those are all very basic database terms. The fact that they are 
> unfamiliar
> and do not appear much in Rev database discussions suggests that the 
> state
> of affairs in Rev database management is not very robust.

Bruce,

There are scores of tools for managing your database schema and 
relationships in various database back-ends (MySQL, Postgres, Oracle, 
ODBC, Valentina...). But they aren't a part of the Rev environment- 
that's often the difference between using a multi-tiered database 
independent tool and one like FileMaker or Access who's entire purpose 
is to build database apps.

Do have a feeling of what backend you are going to use? If so, maybe we 
could point you to the appropriate tools. There's everything from free 
browser based tools to extra-expensive "professional" suites with UML 
and SQL generators, etc.

As for data validation, it may not be built-in to special database 
controls, but it's pretty easy to script:

For example (off the top of my head):

## in your stack script
function validateNumber tValue, tMin, tMax
    if (tValue is a number) AND (tValue >= tMin) AND (tValue <= tMax) 
then return TRUE
    return FALSE
end validateNumber

## in your field script
on closeField
   if not validateNumber(the text of me, 1, 100) then
     select char 1 to -1 of me
     answer error "Please enter a number between 1 and 100"
   else
     pass closeField
   end if
end closeField

HTH!
Brian