A searchable database is an organized collection of records that can be queried or retrieved based on a specific field. By including the field, the database should allow end users to retrieve all relevant information. For example, a customer-searchable database may contain each customer’s name, email address, phone number, job title, job company, etc. You can simply search for a customer’s name to get the rest of the information.
In short, the purpose of searchable databases is to centralize all relatable data in a single place and give end users access to the information to enable them without having to create complex queries or build technical infrastructure.
Reading: How to create a search database for a website
Choose a tool to create one
There are a variety of options to choose from in the market. Before you delve into the available solutions, you can ask yourself the following questions to help you make a better decision:
- Does your data come from multiple sources, e.g. E.g. spreadsheets, databases or APIs?
- How big is your database? If it’s small now (like less than 100,000 rows), will it keep getting bigger in the future?
- Does your database need to be updated at some point?
- Also for easy keyword searching, do you need advanced search capabilities?
- Need to share the database with others?
Tables
If you don’t have too much data (maybe less than 1 million rows) and you are familiar with Excel or Google Sheets, you can basically use spreadsheet programs to create a searchable database. All you have to do is create multiple input fields and set up VLOOKUP functions to return the matching values based on the inputs.
Although you can use spreadsheets to create a search system with complex logic, they are no databases . They are not designed to store and process large amounts of data. When your database grows to a certain extent, it can take a long time for your Excel to return the results. In addition, spreadsheets are easy to edit, so anyone can unintentionally change the formula or data. As a result, your database can get errors and missing values due to the easily editable nature of a spreadsheet program.
Relational database systems
Relational database systems like MySQL, PostgreSQL are general and scalable methods of building a database. No matter the size of your data, it can be stored in a structured format. The problem is that you need to have sufficient knowledge of databases and programming to set up the whole system. Knowledge includes designing the schemas, defining relationships between tables, and connecting the data source to the database. Once the database is created, you need to know how to write SQL queries to retrieve the data you need. In addition, most relational databases run on your local server. Depending on your computer’s performance, it may take a few minutes for the search results to be returned if your database is too large.
Cloud DB Management Platforms
Cloud DB Management Platforms such as Acho are more ideal when it comes to creating a searchable database. They can store and process large amounts of data like a relational database system, but have an easy-to-use GUI that allows you to perform searches without code. In addition, they can use cloud computing to speed up data processing. Even if your database contains more than 10 million rows, you can still get search results instantly. Second, in addition to spreadsheets, they support the import of data from various sources, such as B. relational databases, third-party apps and APIs. You can store all data in one place, enriching your database. Third, they have built-in functions that allow you to transform and clean data without having to write any codes. Thus, you can adjust the database to any desired table.
Creating a Searchable Database
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In this article, I will use Acho to demonstrate how to create a searchable customer database.
1. Import data from different data sources
Your company may use several different tools to manage your customer data. For example, you can use MySQL to record customer information, Google Sheets to manage CRM, and Stripe to process customer payments. The first step is to import all the data your database needs.
2. Combine your data to enrich your database
Once all data has been imported into Acho, you can create a new project and import all datasets into the project. Within the project, you can combine these records into a single table using a join or union.
3. Set up scheduler to automate data sync
You can create schedules to update your database. The schedules will pull the latest data from your data sources and perform any actions you have applied. Therefore, you don’t have to rebuild the database every time you get it new data.
Search your database
Perform a quick search using the search bar
If you want For a quick search, you can just type a keyword in the search bar at the top of the headers, it will return all the results that contain the keyword in the specified column.
C Create You can perform a complex search using the filter action.
Alternatively, you can set up a number of filters to narrow down the search results. Based on the data type of each column, the filter offers different logic like “is or after” for dates, “contains” for texts, “greater than” for numbers, etc.
After applying your filters, you can even save them as your favorites to come back to later.
Share your database
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You can create a database only visible to you. However, if you want to share the database with someone else, you can invite them to your Acho project. Once they log into Acho, they can create their own searches to find the dates they want.
The advantage of sharing a database in this way is that all your Team colleagues have a lot of flexibility when doing data transformations or manipulations of the table. However, this would leave the table vulnerable to unintentional changes. If you need to share full access to a table, this is a better choice.
Publish the searchable database on your website
If you have your own website, the embedding is different Possibility of database on your website. To do this, you can create a spreadsheet app in the “Business App” area. It turns your project table into an application.
Then click the publish button.
Once you have your searchable database, you can simply use an “iframe” tag to embed your spreadsheet on your website. This is what the searchable database looks like after you publish the sample database.
Build an interactive web application with Acho App Builder
If you want to present your data in a more customizable format and share it with many people, you can use Acho App Builder to create it. The app builder allows you to customize filters and create a full-text search bar. In addition, the content can be drilled into more detail by clicking on any row.
If you are interested in learning more about it, here are some ways to contact us.
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- Schedule a Discovery Call
- Chat with Acho: Chat Now
- Mail us directly: [email protected]
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