Adding data across multiple tables

[0bsidian]

Hi,

I suspect this might be relatively simple, but I'm a bit lost. Apologies if this is unclear, I'm finding it difficult to explain my quandry.

I've inherited a database which I need to develop a bit more.

The database deals with school customer orders. These orders come from a set base of school customers and, so, much of the customer data is stored in various lookup tables linked by a key . These tables are populated via an import at the beginning of a term.

However we do, on occasion, need to be able to add a customer manually.

I am trying to concoct a way of allowing the secretaries to enter the data in an easy form (or the likes) without having to enter multiple data in several different tables but I am unsure how to proceed.

Is there a simple way to do this that someone can advise?

Many thanks in advance.

B

 

[DCrake]

You first need to establish which tables need what information. The first step when adding a new record is to determine the primary key. If the legacy database uses auto numbers then this should be easy.

Alot will depend on how normalised the structure is. You should have a main customers table that stores the main demographic details, such as name, address, contact details, etc.

David

 

[0bsidian]

Hi David, and thanks for the reply.

I should have provided that information.

I am definitely aware of which tables contain the data and I believe I know which tables I want to be updated when entering new customer details.

The structure (for the sake of this particular problem) is as below:

tlkpPupil (table) - PupilID*, FamilyName, GivenName
trelPupilToSet (table) - SetID*, PupilID*, StartDate*, EndDate
trelPupilToYear (table) - SchoolYear*, PupilID*, StartDate, EndDate

* = Primary Key

I have the structure of the database there, I just can't figure out the best (see: easiest for both myself and the people working with the database) way to implement a tool for them to manually input new customers considering the multiple tables that need to be populated.

Any advice?