Welcome
AbiData is a self-hosted database application platform. You build tables, queries, forms, reports and scripts in the browser, and the people you invite use them from any device. Everything for one project lives in a workspace, which is a single database on your server.
If you have used Microsoft Access, the ideas will be familiar. Tables hold records, queries select them, forms enter and view them, and reports print them. Scripts, written in Lua, hold the logic that you would otherwise write in VBA.
How a workspace is organised
The navigation pane on the left groups objects by type:
| Object | What it is | Where to read more |
|---|---|---|
| Tables | Your data, shown as a datasheet | Tables |
| Queries | Saved selections, joins and totals | Queries |
| Forms | Screens for entering and viewing records | Forms |
| Reports | Printable, grouped output | Reports |
| Scripts | Lua code behind forms, reports and jobs | Scripts |
| Jobs | Scripts that run on a schedule | Jobs |
The Scripts and Jobs groups appear only for builders and owners. API keys, backups and other workspace settings are under Workspace settings, which owners open from their user menu. See API access.
Each object opens in a tab. Builders and owners also get a view switcher above the tab, for example Datasheet and Design.
Where to start
When the first administrator is created on the setup page, AbiData also creates two sample workspaces. Open Northwind Traders to see tables, queries, a form, a report and a scheduled job working together. It has the tables Employees, Customers, Products, Orders and Order lines, the queries Sales by month, Top customers, Low stock, Open orders, Revenue by category and Sales by employee, the form Customer details, the report Product catalogue and the job Refresh low-stock flags. Biosecurity Watch shows maps, areas and photos; see Example: invasive species.
To build your own workspace:
- Create a table and add a few fields: Tables.
- Type some records into the datasheet, or import a file.
- Give your team access: Members and roles.
- Connect other programs with an API key.
- Take a backup before making big design changes.
If you run the server yourself, start with Install.
Finding help
- Click the help button in the top bar (a circle with a question mark, labelled Open documentation) to open this documentation beside your work.
- Press
?anywhere outside a text field. - Press
Mod+Kand choose Open docs. The same menu also offers Keyboard shortcuts, Error reference and Lua API reference. - When an error dialog appears, choose Learn more to jump to that error in the error reference.
- Hover a function in Script Studio to see its documentation, with a link to the Lua API reference.
See Keyboard shortcuts for the full list of keys.