Working with user-defined tables

You can add your own user-defined tables to data sources. You create user-defined tables in Server Admin and use them to store information against objects in Asta Powerproject. You can specify the types of Asta Powerproject object that can use each user-defined table, for example tasks, picture annotations or cost centres. You then specify the fields and user-defined enumerators that you want to use as columns in the table. Each user-defined table can contain a number of fields and user-defined enumerators.

For example, you could create a user-defined enumerator called Priority and define values of High, Medium and Low. You could then add this to a user-defined table which is associated with tasks and use the enumerator to specify the priority of tasks in Asta Powerproject. Alternatively, you could create a user-defined enumerator called Manager and define values relating to the names of your Managers. You could then add this to a user-defined table which is associated with cost and income rates and use the enumerator to specify the person that sets the cost and income rates of your permanent resources. Adding a string field called Telephone to the user-defined table would enable you to record the telephone number of each Manager.

You can use Resource Search to search for permanent resources using the information stored within user-defined tables that are associated with the 'Perm Resource Skill' object. For example, if you have a user-defined table called Resource Attributes, populated with Expertise and Location fields, you could search for permanent resources by their area of expertise (for example Brick Layer, Developer or Builder) or their location (for example Edinburgh, Dublin or Paris). You can only search on fields within a user-defined table for which the Allow enumeration field has been selected on the Add Field dialog. You must select the Allow enumeration check box for all types of field within Server Admin, including Boolean (Yes/No) fields, in order to use them to search for permanent resources.

You can use the fields within user-defined tables to enable users to link objects in their projects, for example tasks and resources, to external documents. You do this by creating 'URL'-type fields within tables. Users can then enter hyperlinks to external documents, or to webpages on the internet or an intranet, into these fields in their projects.

You cannot add user-defined fields to user-defined tables.