LibreOffice Base
| Company type | Free and open-source software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Database management software |
| Founded | October 4, 2011 |
| Headquarters | Cross-platform |
| Products | Database creation and management application |
| Website | www |
LibreOffice Base is a cost-free, open-source application designed for database creation and management, included within the LibreOffice suite. It originated from a split of OpenOffice.org and was initially launched as version 3.4.0.1 on October 4, 2011.
Unlike Microsoft Access, which operates solely on Windows, Base offers cross-platform functionality, supporting various operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux, consistent with other components of LibreOffice.
Features
Users can utilize LibreOffice Base to build, access, edit, and examine databases through an intuitive graphical interface centered around four primary elements: Tables, queries, forms, and reports. The software incorporates wizards to guide users through database operations. Notably, Java is necessary when creating databases that involve forms and wizards.
Base accommodates both embedded and external database configurations. Embedded databases rely on Firebird (implemented in C++) or the Java-based HSQLDB as storage backends. For external database connections, Base serves as a front-end interface compatible with systems such as the Access Database Engine (ACE/JET), ODBC/JDBC connections, MySQL, MariaDB, and PostgreSQL.
In a domain primarily led by proprietary enterprise database solutions, Base provides an affordable alternative that appeals particularly to small enterprises requiring efficient database management without incurring substantial licensing costs.
Migration from HSQLDB to Firebird
Starting in 2014, efforts commenced to transition the embedded storage engine from HSQLDB to the SQL-based Firebird. Firebird was initially made available as an experimental feature in LibreOffice version 4.2.
By August 2018, with the release of LibreOffice 6.1, Firebird support was fully accessible in experimental mode, replacing HSQLDB as the former default engine. In February 2019, LibreOffice 6.2 elevated Firebird from experimental status to production-ready, introducing a Migration Assistant tool to aid in backing up content via XML during the migration process. Nevertheless, in February 2020 (version 6.4.1), embedded Firebird reverted back to experimental status.