Most data created and used by a Relate custom application is stored in a record.   A Relate record is a bundle of information that represents a single person or object in the real world.   All of the information collected about a single staff member would be stored within a Relate record.  The information tracked about a client would likewise be stored in a Relate record.  Information about a facility such as it's maintainence schedule and rooms would be stored in a Relate record.  A Relate record can be thought of as a file folder.  A collection of Relate records might correspond to a filing cabinet.  The computer needs to know what data may be stored within each record.  This is defined via record types, record categories and forms.

A Relate record begins with a record type.  Each Relate record is of one-and-only-one type.  A record's type is immutible meaning that once the record is assigned a type it can never be changed to another type.  Examples of record types are "Person", "Facility", "Company" or "Inventory Item".  Note that a company can never become a person in real-life.  A person can never become an inventory item.  These types are immutable and unchanging for the real-life things they represent.

Also attached to to a record are record categories.  Categories apply to record types.  Categories can change over time.  For instance categories of the "Person" type might be "Staff", "Client", "Former Client", "Consultant", etc.   Categories of the "Facility" type might be "Skilled Nursing" or "Assisted Living."  Just because a person is your staff member today does not exclude them from becoming a client tomorrow.  A facility can be repurposed from a skilled nursing facility to an assisted living facility.  A single facility may accomodate both skilled nursing patients and assisted living patients at the same time and have both category designations (this is a Relate developer's nightmare--you'll know why soon enough).

Record types and categories determine what type of information can be collected and stored within the record.  Specifically, attached to record types and categories are forms.  A form is much like a paper form such as the 1040 form you probably used for preparing your taxes.  A form is a collection of fields.  Fields define the type of data that can be stored and what the name of each piece of data will be.  The IRS 1040 form, for instance, has text fields for your name and your spouse's name.  It has a number field for your income.  It has an option field for your filing status and so on.  Text, number and option are the type of data to be stored.  Name, spouse's name, income and filing status are the names given to the pieces of data collected.  Forms and fields are defined as part of Relate configuration within the Relate site.  If you are a geek you may have already guessed some of the technical details that make this work:  A form defines a dynamically created database table and a field is a column in the table.

When you fill out a form with actual data you are creating an entry of that form.  This would be like taking a piece of paper with the IRS 1040 form printed on it and filling it out.  The result is not the form itself, it is an entry of the form.  The entries that are the result of filling out various forms are the actual data that is attached to a Relate record.  You do not have to always create a new entry; you can modify existing entries.  If you're a geek you've probably guessed that an entry is one row in a database table.

In summary, Relate records have a record type and may have one or more record categories.  The record type and categories determine what forms are available to be filled out.  When a form is filled out it creates a form entry which is attached to the Relate record.  Some forms can only be filled out once-per-record and create a single entry.  We call these single-entry forms.  Some forms can be filled out over-and-over creating many entries per record.  These types of forms are called multi-entry forms.

When entering data via a Relate application a user works with one record at a time.  Generally, on the left of the screen is a list of the forms that are available based on the type and categories of the record.  Clicking a single-entry form takes you directly to a screen where you fill out that form and either create the initial entry or modify it.  Clicking on a multi-entry form takes you to a list of entries.  From this screen you may then choose an entry to edit, or choose to create a new entry.  The list of available forms on the left is called the record navigation.   If there are many forms they may be organized into folders.  Other items may be listed in record navigation such as reports about the data contained in the record.

Exercise

Locate and open various kinds of records using the Queries and Reports areas of Relate.  Explore the record navigation of each record and note the differences between them.  For instance client record and staff record have a few similarities, but are mostly different.  Try to find a single-entry form and a multi-entry form.  Expand and collapse folders and see what else can be accessed via the record navigation.  Learn to create records of different types and categories.  Determine how to add or remove a category from a record.  Observe the changes to the record navigation as categories are added and removed and as you view different types of records.  If you are on a live site, be sure you don't modify real records and that your test records are easily identified as such.