A Little Conceptional Help Please

[2ninerniner2]

Re: A Little Conceptional Help Please

One other method you may want to investigate is using a system that is already set up for this sort of thing. Perhaps take a look at eFront. It is a PHP/MySQL e-learning / training script that I am using in one of my FM databases (now being converted to A5 :) ) that will look after the actual training and training records. Using ODBC, I connect to it's MySQL db to obtain various information that is used in the FM employee db. It works quite nicely with A5 in the test app I have set up; much nicer with A5's native MySQL driver and not having to use ODBC. eFront comes in a few "flavours" and for what I need, the free Community Version works nicely.

[glenschild]

Re: A Little Conceptional Help Please

You could write xbasic called on an ajax callback to create the new records but I would first of all create new grids for the employee records and the required procedures. Link the required procedures grid to the employees grid with the necessary fields and use a lookup on the required procedures grid to grab the correct procedure. This gives you a quick way to quickly populate multiple records.

[SteveK3003]

Re: A Little Conceptional Help Please

Your application is indeed similar. We don't have tests per say, we have a trainer certification and a supervisor approval. You are right in hat we are creating an incomplete record in advance. It's this creation of the record in advance that has me stalled. The rest I understand pretty well.

[2ninerniner2]

Re: A Little Conceptional Help Please

Sounds exactly like what I am converting from FileMaker :)

I will use my terminology as that may help you see things in a different light (and hopefully help me in the conversion process )

- employees need to be trained and then graded upon specific "tasks" in order to become qualified
- these "tasks" are created in advance by a manager
- the same "tasks" can appear on one or more "tests"
- the manager "assembles" a selection of these "tasks" into "tests" in advance
- the criteria ("tasks" for each "test") for these "tests" can change over time
- when an existing "test" needs to be changed, a new "test" is created with the changes
-- this is so that historical "test results" will be preserved

- when it is time for the employee to "take the test" and be "graded", the "Instructor":

-- creates a new "testing record"
-- selects from the employees the "candidate" for the "test"
-- selects which pre-assembled "test" to use
-- when the "test" is selected, the "testing record - task list (repeating "grid") is populated with the appropriate "tasks" for that "test"
-- the "Instructor" then evaluates and grades the employee on each "task" in that list
-- the employee passes or fails the "testing record" depending upon the criteria set up in advance

Does this sound similar to what you want? What helped me is that, as is said elsewhere, "99% of all databases can be thought of as "invoicing databases"

The difference here is, you want to be able to created your "invoice line items" in advance; sort of a "pre-printed" empty invoice form. My app needs these "line items" in a specific sequence, so that was an additional consideration. So when it comes time to use one of these "pre-printed invoices", the system copies all the "line items" from the "pre-printed invoice" that was selected into the "testing record - line items".

HTH :)

Cheers!
Lyle

[SteveK3003]

Re: A Little Conceptional Help Please

Im not sure how that would work. More info please.

[glenschild]

Re: A Little Conceptional Help Please

You may want to try some linked grids as a starter?

[SteveK3003]

Re: A Little Conceptional Help Please

Web

[glenschild]

Re: A Little Conceptional Help Please

Web or Desktop?

[SteveK3003]

Re: A Little Conceptional Help Please

Good to know I'm on he right track.

I imagin I now need to set up a dialog with the employee name as a drop down selection and the operation as a drop down selection and from the operation selected, build a results table of procedures. Then write some code to append the results with the employee name to the master training function?

[glenschild]

Re: A Little Conceptional Help Please

Since you didn't define the elements of your required functions table it could be a symantecs thing where we are indeed talking about the same thing. At the end of the process, the master training table should contain several new records each with the employee name and one of the procedures. I can then extract reports easily showing which employees are trained on what procedures and of coarse which functions. Other reports will show which procedures have been assigned to an employee but not yet mastered.

the required procedures table for that employee.

indeed symantecs! You have the required structure! With each table having the required fields to record training status etc.

[SteveK3003]

Re: A Little Conceptional Help Please

Since you didn't define the elements of your required functions table it could be a symantecs thing where we are indeed talking about the same thing. At the end of the process, the master training table should contain several new records each with the employee name and one of the procedures. I can then extract reports easily showing which employees are trained on what procedures and of coarse which functions. Other reports will show which procedures have been assigned to an employee but not yet mastered.

[glenschild]

Re: A Little Conceptional Help Please

Is that not the required functions table ?

[SteveK3003]

Re: A Little Conceptional Help Please

Almost. There is also a master training table with each record showing the employee and a procedure that he is required to master. This record shows the current status of the training for that particular employee for that particular procedure.

What I want to do is have a manager assign a function to an employee, have the list of procedures associated with that function tied to the employee and the series of records (employee + each of the required procedures) appended to the master training table. The status will start as required but not completed and as the employee masters the procedure, the training record will be updated to reflect this status.

[glenschild]

Re: A Little Conceptional Help Please

So you have a master list of functions, you have a master list of procedures (training requirements) each of these procedures is linked to one or more functions and they are either active or inactive.

You have a master list of employees and for each employee you require a master list of required functions and for each of these there needs to be a master list of required procedures

So when a manager decides a specific function needs to be applied to an employee a new record needs to be appended to the required functions table which is linked to that employee. Subsequently for each new required function added, the current required procedures relating to that function need to be appended to the required procedures table for that employee.

The required function and required procedure tables need to have foreign keys enabling the link back to the employee record.

[SteveK3003]

Re: A Little Conceptional Help Please

Yes,

I have a table that allows the addition of new procedures to an operation. That table has the operation name and procedure name/number as it's fields.

ie: Operation 1 Procedure 1
Operation 1 Procedure 2
operation 1 Procedure 3
Operation 2 Procedure 1
Operation 2 Procedure 4

etc.

This table can have additions or deletions to stay current.

when you select operation 1, you get 3 records, Procedure 1, Procedure 2 and Procedure 3

I want to add the name of the employee and append these procedures as 3 new records to the overall training table thus creating 3 records with employee name and the 3 required procedures as new records. I also want to weed out any duplicate procedures but I believe this can be done within the append function.