A few moments ago I received a phone call with an unusual request. I am describing the request as unusual because I�ve never done anything like this before, it involves AUTOMATIC data entry of numerous records over an extended period of time [scheduling]. Obviously I haven�t had time to think about a solution, but it certainly sounds like a fascinating challenge.
I work with a company that provides transportation to Senior Citizens [people who remind me of Steve Workings]. A large part of the employee�s time is spent entering repetitive information into A5 month after month. Obviously the owner would love to eliminate much of that repetitive data entry.
He went to a software show last week where one of the applications demonstrated how it can figure out patterns and AUTOMATICALLY enter repetitive data. Sounds pretty good to me. Of course after seeing that type of automated data entry, he asked me if I could do the same with our A5 application.
I told him, to the best of my knowledge, A5 couldn�t go through the current data, ascertain patterns, and then automatically enter new data for regular customers. However, I did tell him that I could probably create something similar where the user could press a button and perform certain automated functions.
As stated above, I haven�t had much time to think about a solution, but I definitely know I will need big-time help on this one. If you are interested in helping, here is the challenge:
Regular Riders are defined as those seniors who, meet the following conditions:
[1] they ride 3 or more times per week
[2] they are always picked up at the same time and location
[3] they are always transported to the same destination
[4] they are always picked up at the same time
[5] they always go on the same days such as Mon. Wed. Fri.
In essence, the senior citizen�s key information never changes, it's very similar to the Quicken 3 for DOS and Wordstat applications that Steve Workings still uses.
The only thing that changes are the dates and that could be a problem. Here are the pertinent fields I extracted from the table where ride information is stored. I hope everything lines up evenly.
--------------------------------------
ID Character [04]
Fname Character [12]
Lname Character [18]
Regular Character [01]
Date_Pickup Date
Time_Pickup Character [05]
Pickup_Location Character [20]
Destination Character [24]
Destination_Zip Character [05]
Time_Return Character [05]
Escort Numeric [01]
Pass Character [04]
Type_Fare Character [06]
--------------------------------------
Off the top of my head, I know we will need a Regular_Rider one character Y or N field, so I just added it to the table.
My first thought is creating a button wherein Xbasic searches for and finds all Regular_Riders [Y]. A5 will then enter their static information [the fields listed above], for let�s say, one month ahead of time. This is where it really gets interesting as I�m wondering how I can possibly do this? I am very confident some of the sharp members of this discussion group will come up with some excellent ideas and/or suggestions.
Robert
I work with a company that provides transportation to Senior Citizens [people who remind me of Steve Workings]. A large part of the employee�s time is spent entering repetitive information into A5 month after month. Obviously the owner would love to eliminate much of that repetitive data entry.
He went to a software show last week where one of the applications demonstrated how it can figure out patterns and AUTOMATICALLY enter repetitive data. Sounds pretty good to me. Of course after seeing that type of automated data entry, he asked me if I could do the same with our A5 application.
I told him, to the best of my knowledge, A5 couldn�t go through the current data, ascertain patterns, and then automatically enter new data for regular customers. However, I did tell him that I could probably create something similar where the user could press a button and perform certain automated functions.
As stated above, I haven�t had much time to think about a solution, but I definitely know I will need big-time help on this one. If you are interested in helping, here is the challenge:
Regular Riders are defined as those seniors who, meet the following conditions:
[1] they ride 3 or more times per week
[2] they are always picked up at the same time and location
[3] they are always transported to the same destination
[4] they are always picked up at the same time
[5] they always go on the same days such as Mon. Wed. Fri.
In essence, the senior citizen�s key information never changes, it's very similar to the Quicken 3 for DOS and Wordstat applications that Steve Workings still uses.
The only thing that changes are the dates and that could be a problem. Here are the pertinent fields I extracted from the table where ride information is stored. I hope everything lines up evenly.
--------------------------------------
ID Character [04]
Fname Character [12]
Lname Character [18]
Regular Character [01]
Date_Pickup Date
Time_Pickup Character [05]
Pickup_Location Character [20]
Destination Character [24]
Destination_Zip Character [05]
Time_Return Character [05]
Escort Numeric [01]
Pass Character [04]
Type_Fare Character [06]
--------------------------------------
Off the top of my head, I know we will need a Regular_Rider one character Y or N field, so I just added it to the table.
My first thought is creating a button wherein Xbasic searches for and finds all Regular_Riders [Y]. A5 will then enter their static information [the fields listed above], for let�s say, one month ahead of time. This is where it really gets interesting as I�m wondering how I can possibly do this? I am very confident some of the sharp members of this discussion group will come up with some excellent ideas and/or suggestions.
Robert
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