Select and copy the data in the spreadsheet, right-click somewhere in the Tables pane, and choose Paste. Importing data into an existing table is equally straightforward. Finally, press the Done button to import the data into the table. Here you can also modify the column names and change the length of each field. The import wizard usually does a good job of guessing the type of data in the individual columns, but if you need to tweak the defaults, you can do so in the Type formatting screen. Use the available buttons to move the desired columns, and press Next when you are satisfied with the result. Here you can select the columns that you want to add to your table.

Press Next to go to the Apply Columns screen. To do this, tick the Create primary key check box and give the field a name if you don’t want to use the default ID name. Next, you need to create a primary key for the new table. Since you’re importing data into a new table, give the table a descriptive name, and choose the Definition and data option. This opens a wizard that guides you through the import process. Switch to the database, go to the Tables section, right-click somewhere in the Tables pane, and choose Paste. Copy all the data in the spreadsheet using the Ctrl-A and Ctrl-C keyboard shortcuts (or choose Edit -> Select All and Edit -> Copy). They will be used as database field names, thus making it easier to manage data during the import process. Before you begin, make sure that the first row in the spreadsheet contains column labels. Let’s start with the most simple scenario, where you have data in a Calc spreadsheet and you want to import it into a new table in a Base database. While you may be surprised to discover that lacks a dedicated import/export feature, it does allow you to get data into and out of a database in a variety of ways. The ability to import and export data is crucial to any database management system, and Base is no exception.

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