In order for you to do anything with a dataset you first have to open it.

Table.Active := True;  //Does what we want or you can use

Table1.Open;

If you use Table1.Open this will also set the Active property to True as well.

Closing A Dataset:

Table1.Active := False;

Table1.Close;
 

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  with Table1 do
   ShowMessage(Format('Count = %d', [RecordCount]));
end;
.

The software user sets specific conditions for the filter and the result is displayed. 

In order to enable filtering you must set the Table filtered property to true. 

Example: 

Table1.Filtered := True; 

But first you specify the filter conditions in the Filter property. 

Here is an example: 

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject); 
begin 
    Table1.Filter := 'Continent =' + QuotedStr(Edit1.Text); 
    Table1.Filtered := True; 
end; 

The above example creates a filter that uses the datasets 'Continent' field and a TEdit component for the user to enter
text as well. Note that after we have set the details for the filter then we set the Filtered property to True. 

If I were using the country.db and typed in Edit1 'North America' then all the records with North America in the Continent field, would only be displayed. 

To view all the records again you can set the Filtered property to False like this: 

procedure TForm1.Button5Click(Sender: TObject); 
begin 
    Table1.Filtered := False; 
end; 
 

If you have a Paradox database and you have added a password but you do not want your program users to have to type in the password, in other words you do not want the user to see the password dialog box, then you can use this code:

procedure TForm1.FormActivate(Sender: TObject);
const CRLF = #13 + #10;
begin
    Session.AddPassword('PassWord');
    try
     Table1.Open; 
    except
       on E:Exception do
     begin       // exception if we  cannot open the table
         ShowMessage('Error!' + CRLF + // this is to display an error explaining what happened
                   E.Message + CRLF + 'Terminating application...');
         Application.Terminate; //Shut down the application
     end;
end;

Label1.Caption := DBGrid1.Columns.Grid.SelectedField.AsString;

The 32 bit versions of Delphi still support GetBookmark, GotoBookmark and Freebookmark this is to maintain backward compatibility with the older 16 bit (Delphi 1) database projects.

Here is an example using GotoBookmark, GetBookmark and Freebookmark.

var Bookmark : TBookmark;

procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
begin
    Bookmark := nil;
end;

procedure TForm1.SpeedButton1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
    if BookMark <> nil then Table1.GotoBookMark(BookMark);
   Table1.FreeBookMark(BookMark);
    Bookmark := nil;
end;

procedure TForm1.SpeedButton2Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
    if Bookmark = nil then
    BookMark := Table1.GetBookmark;
end;

---

TDataSet.Bookmark

Used to specify the current bookmark in a dataset.

type TBookmarkStr: string;
property Bookmark: TBookmarkStr;

Example:

private
    { Private declarations }
    MyBookmark : TBookmarkStr;

Button1.Caption := 'Bookmark';
Button2.Caption := 'Clear Bookmark';
Button3.Caption := 'Go to MyBookmark';

Add 3 TButton components to your form, double-click on each button and add this code:

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
    MyBookmark := Table1.Bookmark; 
end;

procedure TForm1.Button2Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
    MyBookmark := ''; 
end;

procedure TForm1.Button3Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  Table1.Bookmark := MyBookmark; 
end;

Table1.FindNearest ([Edit1.Text]);

Table1.Last = takes you to the last record.
Table1.First = takes you to the first record.
Table1.Prior = takes you to the previous record.
Table1.Next = takes you to the next record.

Table1.MoveBy(n) = takes you forward n records.
Table1.MoveBy(-n) = takes you back n records.

Where n is a number.

If you have Database Explorer (SQL Explorer) you can drag and drop a Table onto the Delphi form, from Database Explorer.
This is a fast way of setting up a database.
When you do this the Table and DataSource are put on the form as well.

You can also drop a single field onto a form.

An example is for you to go to employees.db in Database Explorer, expand the Fields tree node (Click on the +) next
click on the EmpNo field and drag it onto a form.
You should see:
 

• Lable1 = Caption = EmpNo
• Table1
• DataSource1
• DBEdit1

To see the Fields Editor, double click on Table1 or right-click on Table1 and then select 'Fields Editor', you can also do the same with Query1 (TQuery).

Right-click on the Fields Editor and you can select 'Add Fields', select the fields you want and then click on 'OK'.
When you can see all the fields in the Fields Editor, you can then select one of the fields, say in this case we want 'Name' from DBDEMOS - ANIMALS.DBF.
You can then drag the field onto the form.

You can use the Fields Editor to add new fields to a table.
 

Unit DBTables

This property is used to specify the sort order of the table. By changing the IndexName, the order will change. 
By default the IndexName is set to null, so the BDE uses the primary index for sorting the table.
Using the secondary index you can change the sort order.

Examples:

procedure TForm1.IndexSubject1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  Table1.IndexName := 'SubjectIDX';
  Table1.FindNearest(['AAAA']);
end;

procedure TForm1.IndexTipsTitles1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  Table1.IndexName := 'TipNameIDX';
  Table1.FindNearest(['AAAA']);
end;

You can use Table1.IndexName := ''; to go back to the primary index.
.

Is the same as clicking on a DBnavigator button.
The example is the same as clicking on the post button, and is interesting because it will save the text (data) in the DBMemo to a file before the user clicks on SpeedBtn1.
 

procedure TForm1.SpeedBtn1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  DBMemo1.SaveToFile(DBEdit1.Text + '.txt');
  DBNavigator1.BtnClick(nbPost);
end;

Here are you options for the buttons:

First       nbFirst         Goes to the first record
Prior      nbPrior        Goes to the previous record
Next       nbNext        Goes to the next record
Last       nbLast        Goes to the last record
Insert     nbInsert       Inserts a blank record
Delete  nbDelete     Deletes the current record
Edit      nbEdit          Permits the user to edit the current record
Post     nbPost         Posts the current record
Cancel nbCancel    Cancels the current edit
Refresh nbRefresh Refreshes the data in the dataset
.

I opened the Borland CtrlGrid Db demo and added a button to the FmCtrlGrid form and a TListBox (ListBox1) and aligned ListBox1 to alBottom after dragging down the form so it was larger. And then I double-clicked on the button (Button2) and added this code:

procedure TFmCtrlGrid.Button2Click(Sender: TObject);
var I : Integer;
begin
    ListBox1.Clear;
    for I := 0 to DM1.tblIndustry.FieldCount - 1 do
       ListBox1.Items.Add(DM1.tblIndustry.Fields[I].FieldName);
end;

This gave me a list of the fields in the table tblIndustry.
--
Then I added another TButton (Button3) to the same demo and then double-clicked on Button3 and added this code:

procedure TFmCtrlGrid.Button3Click(Sender: TObject);
var I : Integer;
begin
    ListBox1.Clear;
    for I := 0 to DM1.tblIndustry.FieldCount - 1 do
      ListBox1.Items.Add(DM1.tblIndustry.Fields[I].Name);
end;

You can select an alias by clicking on the little black arrow to the right of 'DatabaseName' in the Object Inspector, or you can type in a path.
You can also use code like this:

Table1.DatabaseName := 'd:\delphi 3\demos\db';

A Table should not be open when you change the DatabaseName.

When installing the BDE, it is recommended by many programmers to do a full install of the BDE. Although it is possible to do a partial install, it is better to do a full install.

You are allowed to distribute the BDE with your database applications, this is not the BDE installation from your Delphi CD, you must use a program like the free lite version of InstallShield that comes with Delphi.