[TYPO3-english] Explanation of Typo3 database fields

[Jigal van Hemert]

TDJ wrote:
> I have been asked to do a front-end to Typo3 (in Visual Basic or MS Access, 
> for simplicity and speed of data entry).

Well, there is a beautiful backend in TYPO3 to enter records, in the 
latest version there is a very neat frontend editing feature and the API 
has advanced function to process data blocks and feed them to the 
database tables (or copy, move records, etc.)

> The insertion of the records in the Typo3 database works. But I am 
> wondering: is the standard tables / fields in a Typo3 installation 
> documented anywhere ? I am thinking about the relation between TCA and the 
> content in the database, f.ex. that uid=unique ID for the list / page, 
> pid=it's parent. fe_user=who has access. Etc etc.

The TYPO3 Core API documents the TCA in chapter 4 [1].

Not everything is static in the way TYPO3 handles the table columns. 
E.g. enableFields defines which columns are used for a few basic 
functionalities [2]. So you have to look in the TCA for a table to see 
which column is used for hiding (disabling) a record.

There are a lot of features which require you to do a lot of 
programming, for example:
- eval : many evaluation functions are available
- wizards : separate wizard scripts help select/build data
- foreign tables with or without mm-relationships
- IRRE (Inline Relational Record Editing) [3]
- flexforms
- conditions

All this is neatly handled by the TYPO3 core. I wouldn't like to be in 
your situation to build all this in VB or even MS Access...

[1] 
http://typo3.org/documentation/document-library/core-documentation/doc_core_api/4.2.0/view/4/1/
[2] 
http://typo3.org/documentation/document-library/core-documentation/doc_core_api/4.2.0/view/4/2/
[3] http://typo3.org/uploads/media/Inline_Relational_Record_Editing_01.pdf

Regards, Jigal.