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Design issue for newbie to Alpha 5

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    Design issue for newbie to Alpha 5

    I have an application that I would like to prototype fairly quickly. I looked at Access and thought it to complex to use, and looked at some "Orgazniser" type databases which were just too Mickey Mouse. So now I'm taking a close look at Alpha 5.

    The application I have in mind is simply to record lots of data per client of mine, a lot of it in memo fields.

    I think I will end up with several hundred fields per record.

    I would like to create a menu system that navigates the user by calling different forms, to maintain different sets of fields.

    My big question is .... logically the fields would fit nicely into a number of seperate tables (each dealing with a seperate area).. there would only ever be one record for each client in each table - sort of one to one relationship on say a field clientid in each table.

    Will splitting it up into tables make more or less work for me - or would one great big single table be a simple solution.

    In general terms if I use multiple tables, if I had a form called "Create new Client", could it be made to create a new record in all the other tables with just the clientid filled? Or would it be easier to somehow create records in other tables on the fly from other forms dealing with them.

    Would appreciate some tips on the right approach before I spend too much time studying the detail.


    #2
    RE: Design issue for newbie to Alpha 5

    Dave,

    Welcome to the Wonderful World of Alpha!

    You've made the first step. Now it's time to put on your seat belt and get ready for the database development ride of your life!

    In general...

    You should group your data logically.

    If You will have several clients, create a table to hold the information about them...Company Name, Street Address, Mailing Address, Website Address and any other information about the company you wish to store.

    If each company will never have more than one Website address that you want to keep up with, then the logical place to store that information is in the client table.

    If however, any client will have more than one website address that you want to store, you will want to create a table to hold client website addresses.

    These two tables, clients & website addresses would then be used to create a set with the client table as the parent and the website address table as the child.

    Now, your forms and reports can be based on the set, not the individual tables.

    This approach gives you and your customer the most flexibility.

    Development time will take longer with this approach, but once you have created your first set, form, report and so on, the process becomes very easy and pretty quick.

    If you have not already done so, I would strongly urge you to take advantage of the product documentation and the learning resources available to you on Alpha's website.

    Best Regards

    Louis

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      #3
      RE: Design issue for newbie to Alpha 5

      More info needed:

      What is the nature of your data/fields? That will determine how the tables/sets should be structured.
      Peter
      AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

      [email protected]
      https://www.alphabasesolutions.com


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        #4
        RE: Design issue for newbie to Alpha 5

        Dave,

        Your idea of several hundred fields per record is worrisome. I don't know of course whether this applies to you but many spreadsheet folks just add another column when they need to track new data. In like manner, when they move to a database they tend to add a new field to the record structure. This works reasonably well for a small number of fields in a flat table design. However, it misses the wonderful opportunity which exists to build multiple tables with a relational design.

        Here's an easy example:

        Assume the goal is to keep a series of date/time stamped notes for a client's project.

        Flat table design: One record per project, dozens or hundreds of fields for each date/time stamped note you want to track.

        Relational design: One table for the project, another, linked one-to-many for the project notes.

        Instead of filling in one field after the other in the flat table design, you ADD new "Note Records" in the linked child table.

        It's the difference between thinking horizontally (adding fields / columns at the right boundary of your row), and thinking vertically, by adding an infinite (well almost infinite) number of records, one after the other.

        Hope this helps.

        -- tom

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