# Two ways to EditingTable?

**URL:** <https://mapwindow.discourse.group/t/two-ways-to-editingtable/551>\
**Category:** MapWinGIS\
**Created:** [May 3, 2020, 12:50pm UTC](https://mapwindow.discourse.group/t/two-ways-to-editingtable/551 "2020-05-03T12:50:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df705f/32.png) [@Henry](https://mapwindow.discourse.group/u/Henry)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 12:50pm UTC](https://mapwindow.discourse.group/t/two-ways-to-editingtable/551/1 "2020-05-03T12:50:54Z")

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Hello everyone, can someone help me? Thank you very much.  
For the attribute information of the shapefile, I noticed that there are two ways to edit the attribute table.  
One is to use StartEditingTable, EditCellValue, StopEditingTable directly in the Shapefile class. See  
[https://www.mapwindow.org/documentation/mapwingis4.9/class\_shapefile.html](https://www.mapwindow.org/documentation/mapwingis4.9/class_shapefile.html)  
The other is to use StartEditingTable, EditCellValue, StopEditingTable in the Table class. See  
[https://www.mapwindow.org/documentation/mapwingis4.9/class\_table.html#a033a0a52493a27ed47b3bcab88d302bb](https://www.mapwindow.org/documentation/mapwingis4.9/class_table.html#a033a0a52493a27ed47b3bcab88d302bb)

What is the difference between these two methods?

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**Author:** ![jerryfaust](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/mapwindow.discourse.group/jerryfaust/32/378_2.png) [@jerryfaust](https://mapwindow.discourse.group/u/jerryfaust)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 1:03am UTC](https://mapwindow.discourse.group/t/two-ways-to-editingtable/551/2 "2020-05-04T01:03:21Z")

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Hello Henry,

Every Shapefile has a Table reference, so to use the Table-based methods, you would first ask for the [Table reference from the Shapefile](https://www.mapwindow.org/documentation/mapwingis4.9/group __shapefile__ table.html#ga3a769493ff8f92cf89b64944fff55480), then make the calls on the Table.

To simplify that process, you can make the same calls straight from the Shapefile (the Shapefile calls wrap up the Table calls in this case). So if you have a Shapefile reference, you can just use the Shapefile-based calls. If all you have is the Table reference, then your only choice is to use the Table-based calls, but this is not as common.

Hope that helps.

Jerry.

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**Author:** ![Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df705f/32.png) [@Henry](https://mapwindow.discourse.group/u/Henry)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 12:39am UTC](https://mapwindow.discourse.group/t/two-ways-to-editingtable/551/3 "2020-05-06T00:39:35Z")

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Thank you for your answers. Your answer is very detailed and clear. Now, I know the difference and connection between these two ways.

Best wishes.

Henry

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**Author:** ![pmeems](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/mapwindow.discourse.group/pmeems/32/9_2.png) [@pmeems](https://mapwindow.discourse.group/u/pmeems)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2022, 3:09pm UTC](https://mapwindow.discourse.group/t/two-ways-to-editingtable/551/4 "2022-01-05T15:09:02Z")

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