How To Create a LibreOffice Or OpenOffice Base Split Database

In this tutorial I’m going to create a LibreOffice split database and import some csv text files that have been exported from a different database system.

First Create The Split Database

There are many ways to import data into LibreOffice base, I’ll start off here with the most simple – if not the most robust way, which is importing data via the user interface.

Fig 1

You can download the split database setup file here, it’s actually just an OpenOffice or LibreOffice database file with some macro code that sets everything up for you.

Put the database file in the directory or folder that you want, double click on it and follow the onscreen prompts and you’ll soon be good to go.

The attached YouTube tutorial will take you through the setup in detail.

Move the split database file into the folder that you want your application to reside in.

Fig 2

Then double click on the split database file "Split_HSQLDB_2.3.2_Wizard_v3d.odb" (or whatever the version number is at time of reading this) to launch the wizard.

Fig 3

Click enable macros in order to proceed (i.e. the button above that’s NOT blue).

Fig 4

Change the database name to one that’s meaningful for your project then click OK.

Fig 5

Then click the OK button on the information dialog box that appears.

And you’re done, the database has been created.

Your split LibreOffice base or OpenOffice database is now created and good to go.

You can now use this just like any LibreOffice database, except this is more robust, and less likely to get corrupted, than normal embedded default database files created without the extra precaution of creating a split database.

What The Folder Structure Looks Like Now

Earlier when you double clicked on the database, the folder looked like Fig 1 at the start of this page, it now looks like Fig 6 below.

Fig 6

I’m showing three views of the same folder here, first with the database folder highlighted, then the driver folder visible so you can see the contents of both.

What’s going on here is that the base database is a front end to the HSQLDB database system and now it’s more visible rather than being hidden in a compacted file.

Now might be a good time to make a copy of the containing folder that contains all of these files and place it in safe location.

You can use this as a template for other split database files without having to go through this setup process again.

You can use this saved copy to create new databases and just rename the ".odb" file to the database name of your choice.

Don’t forget to comment below and let me know if this was helpful.

Also feel free to tell me what topics you would like covered in the future.