I have a document form with hundreds of fields which I have placed in a rich text field on a report(thats so I could copy the document into the report). This document form was used in WordPerfect with fields that were filled in by a merge document. What I want to do is use a database to fill in the form. This will make the process faster and keep the related documents in a way I can find them without digging through paper files. It will facilitate communication and expedite making letters ,labels and other documents. Hopefully I can extend the database to handle time billing,dheck writing, keep statistics and be an efficient e-mail collector or sender. In short, automate the office.
The problem I have with the database design, being a complete newbie to the subject, is understanding how different tables can be used to fill in fields in a document. In general, I can�t see the relational model and am stuck on the flat sort of straight line thinking.
Say I have a table called CHILDRENtbl. In the table are fields such as:
Client_Id, Child_Id, ChildName,ChildSSN,Child DOB, Child Age, ChildGender ChildHeSheThey, ChildHimHerThem ChildHisHerTheir.
Ok. So now I have a table that will fill in all these attributes for every client I have concerning their children. Identifiable by the CLIENT ID, if the client has more than one child and individually by the CHILD ID, I suppose. This design of the table avoids the problem of limiting the database by having an assumed limit on Children with fields such as Child1,child2,child3. By having a table I know where the children are and can append them as I need.
Now how do I get the children out of the table to fill in a form that needs to Identify each child separately so that fields where the different children are placed can be filled in on the document form.
I mean from what I have read of normalization the good advice is to get rid of fields like child1, child2, child3 and child4 etc. reduce this kind of plurality down to just CHILD. However the problem I am having converting a merge document is distinguishing the first child or the second child from the rest of the list in a way that can allow them each to be placed in a specific location in the document . Is there some way to do this without having fields named child1, or first child or something that fits them in the document? If they aren�t distinguished they will all end up the same name. I mean if all you will do with the database is make a list of children then I can see how this works but if you are trying to select out a specific entity and place it in a form document in a specific location. I don�t see how you can get around the plurality convention of the field name. Maybe the trick falls with Child_id or the variables which I have no clue as to how they can be used to do this in the form document. Anyway, I am sure my ignorance about doing all this is quiet a spectacle but I shall persevere the show to gain insight.
Many thanks for any observations
Sincerely, George R. Kenney.
The problem I have with the database design, being a complete newbie to the subject, is understanding how different tables can be used to fill in fields in a document. In general, I can�t see the relational model and am stuck on the flat sort of straight line thinking.
Say I have a table called CHILDRENtbl. In the table are fields such as:
Client_Id, Child_Id, ChildName,ChildSSN,Child DOB, Child Age, ChildGender ChildHeSheThey, ChildHimHerThem ChildHisHerTheir.
Ok. So now I have a table that will fill in all these attributes for every client I have concerning their children. Identifiable by the CLIENT ID, if the client has more than one child and individually by the CHILD ID, I suppose. This design of the table avoids the problem of limiting the database by having an assumed limit on Children with fields such as Child1,child2,child3. By having a table I know where the children are and can append them as I need.
Now how do I get the children out of the table to fill in a form that needs to Identify each child separately so that fields where the different children are placed can be filled in on the document form.
I mean from what I have read of normalization the good advice is to get rid of fields like child1, child2, child3 and child4 etc. reduce this kind of plurality down to just CHILD. However the problem I am having converting a merge document is distinguishing the first child or the second child from the rest of the list in a way that can allow them each to be placed in a specific location in the document . Is there some way to do this without having fields named child1, or first child or something that fits them in the document? If they aren�t distinguished they will all end up the same name. I mean if all you will do with the database is make a list of children then I can see how this works but if you are trying to select out a specific entity and place it in a form document in a specific location. I don�t see how you can get around the plurality convention of the field name. Maybe the trick falls with Child_id or the variables which I have no clue as to how they can be used to do this in the form document. Anyway, I am sure my ignorance about doing all this is quiet a spectacle but I shall persevere the show to gain insight.
Many thanks for any observations
Sincerely, George R. Kenney.
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