Pitney Bowes MapInfo Professional - Manual (Page 86)

• Saving Changes Made to a DBMS Table
• Saving a Copy of a Table to a DBMS Server
Closing a Table
Closing a table removes it from active use in your current session. Choose the Close command from
the File menu to close tables. When you close a table, you automatically close all views of that table. If
you close a table that is displayed in a Map window with other tables, MapInfo Professional removes
that table from the window, but the Map window remains open.
In addition, any subset tables of the original table (known as query tables) also close. You can use the
Close command for any table, whether or not it is displayed in a window. Opening and closing tables is
different from opening and closing windows in which you view your tables. You can open a table without
opening any views of the data. Similarly, closing a window does not close the table (or tables) you are
viewing in the window. They are still open and available for use. To close a window, click the Ctrl-menu
box in the upper-left corner of any window and select Close.
If you have made changes to a table but have not yet saved those changes, MapInfo Professional will
ask you if you want to save them before closing the table. To save your changes, choose Save Table
from the File menu.
• For more information, see Closing a Table, Closing All Open Tables, and Closing Multiple Tables in
the Help System.
Opening vs. Importing
You must open a table before you can use it. The Open command activates a dialog box for opening
tables, (opening a table is described below). Choose the appropriate table by double-clicking on it in the
dialog box.
Most programs require you to import files created in some other programs. MapInfo Professional allows
you to work directly with files created in other programs. When you have a file in one of the following
non-MapInfo Professional formats, you do not have to import it:
• dBase DBF
• Delimited ASCII
• Lotus 1-2-3
• Microsoft Access Database
• Microsoft Excel
By not importing data you save time; opening a file is quicker than importing it. You also save disk space.
When you import a file, you make a copy of it. Since MapInfo Professional works directly with files from
other programs, it does not have to make a copy.
When MapInfo Professional opens a file from some other program, it creates a file with a .TAB extension.
This file describes the format of the file that actually contains the data. When you have opened a
non-MapInfo Professional file, such as a Lotus file, in a previous session and attempt to open it again,
the following prompt appears:
Table definition already exists. Overwrite it?
The table definition referred to is the .TAB file. It does not hurt anything if you continue. MapInfo
Professional overwrites the .TAB file and opens the file.
MapInfo Professional 12.5 86
Saving, Closing, and Exporting Your Work