New Database Workflow

[Javalon]

Hi All,

As I build more and more databases, I am trying to standardize my workflow, making use of templates and data models.

This is more of a discussion than any single question.
I was wondering how you guys plan out a new project?

Do you have a data model template you send to your client/user to fill out?
What are your first steps when you create a new database?
Do you use templates pre-filled with oft-used functions, procedures, basic forms etc?

 

[Eugene-LS]

Do you have a data model template you send to your client/user to fill out?

Usually not.
I am interested in the task and the maximum sizes of the forms

What are your first steps when you create a new database?

Tables and relations between them.

Do you use templates pre-filled with oft-used functions, procedures, basic forms etc?

Always!

 

[arnelgp]

the database will replace the manual task of each worker.
it will Not replaced any Procedures already observed.
it is best to have an Analysis (data/system) first of the project.
Asking questions of how things are done manually.
what forms are they using, what are the flow.
how do they keep the records, etc.

 

[jdraw]

You may get some ideas from this older thread from a poster setting up a brand new database.

 

[Pat Hartman]

Every application is different. The analysis usually starts with outputs and proceeds with inputs and workflows. I have standard form layouts I like to use and common code that goes in every form including security validation. I also have mini-apps like the table maintenance sample I posted here so I never have to ever make a decision on simple lookups and how to implement them. I.e. with value lists or tables and maintenance forms. I also have a couple of standard tables such as employees and customers.

Table Maintenance Mini-app

When you have several lookup tables in an application, it becomes a pain to create separate tables and maintenance forms to manage the contents. This sample is an application that I first developed over 40 years ago, long before Access was a twinkle in Bill's eye. It was constructed using...

www.access-programmers.co.uk

 

[PaquettePaul]

in understanding a business, I focus on a data model first. Reading through a business mission statement or any business overviews gives you the types of data subjects you will be dealing with; e.g., in a court system, you would have judges, courtrooms, documents, schedules, defendants, police, clerks, and so on. i would then add in the preliminary relationships.

This base model provides a way for me to discuss the business as an object first and then the processes, documents, and shareholders/actors involved. As you delve down the rabbit hole of information, I update the data model to reflect my understandings if the business, I believe a good data model reflects the essence and rules of a business while a process model reflects the manner in which the business conducts its operations.

Other than a standard way of dealing with common lookup tables, there is rarely much commonality between businesses or their data models, unless you are specializing in one business sector. I would never ask my client to provide me with a data model as most would not have a clue what you mean and would not understand the implications if you showed the model to them. They are process driven rather than data driven.

I would say that most access developers have a design philosophy and templates/modules that they prefer using. When I develop a new app, I usually reuse my form templates from previous apps as a baseline.

 

[Pat Hartman]

Outputs are what drive the data model. If it isn't in the data model or can't be calculated from it, you can't output it And conversely, If you don't need to output it, you don't need to capture it.