newbie here, help please

[juanmiguel]

hi. i didn't find a newbies section on the forums so i decided to post this here. i hope it is ok for you guys.

well i want to start to build a database for a company that sales shoes, and the owner wants a program that would be able to take the inventory control, the customers data and employees data also, it had to be able to sync data with several users (5) so i'm wondering if that could be made with acces if not, what other options do i have. The company is not that big. about 50 employees.

i have not a dead line, and the owner is my friend so im using this project a a practice to get myself involved on database stuff.

i.m a total newbie on database matters, so i don't know if i should start with acces or sql or what .


tks for the input guys.

 

[Traden]

http://www.gj.thorpe.btinternet.co.uk/general.html

take a look here that explains the basics for normalization and DB design..

good luck

 

[neileg]

Just to add to Traden's comments:

Access is indeed suitable for this kind of database, the number of users is no problem.

However, new users often go wrong with the basic design of inventory databases. It's worth searching here for the subject and read up on the discussions.

 

[FoFa]

Are they networked? If they have a server that all are connected to, development of the DB is different than if you have stand alone PC's. In a network you can design a frontend/backend system so all have access to the same data, in a stand alone environment you have to be able to pass the updates between PC's, hence a different approach is required.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I will add that we have had many discussions in this forum about the problem of inventory control and design.

Please, please do yourself a favor BEFORE you try to implement anything. Read up on relational database concepts.

I won't make an accusation, but I WILL warn you of a common trap that many people dig for themselves. Access is NOT a spreadsheet manager even though it has the ability to open tables and queries in a datasheet mode. DO NOT approach the problem of database design when thinking in spreadsheet terms. You will quickly limit yourself.

Common Excel-think traps:

Inconsistent data content in the same column from row to row.

Inconsistent data formats in the same column from row to row.

Trying to use formulas in a cell. Excel can do this. Access cannot (because it does this another way.)

Storing the results of a computation as a permanent data element. (Not always wrong, though... depends on what the computation was meant to compute.)

Data either not normalized at all or badly mis-normalized. (A symptom of the greater problem is the need to store the same thing in more than one place when that thing is not a foreign key.)

 

[juanmiguel]

tks

tks everyone for the input,i'v been reding some articles and ebooks about database but now more questions are coming to my head, so here i go. ( i hope you guys dont get tired of this).

when you develop an aplication for acces an vba:

can you distribute that aplication to other users on a LAN?

do they have to have MS ACCESS installed in order to use it?

or:

do you have to dvelope that aplicaton on another programming language like C++ or Basic?

What i want to do here is an aplication where the employees would be able to open the program and , some of them just have the ability of searching the database for custome or products information, some of them to actually update the database ( for example the reciving guy adding a new item that just arived) or
( a shipping guy withdrawing an item from stock) and all this data to be sync so for example the sales guy could search for some product information or availability.
And the application should be userfriendly(i dont want to have the person to learn ACCESS or PROGRAMING to be able to use it)


Like i said there is not that much data involved ,it's a small company,that's why i thought it would be a good place to start from.But i would like to make the database upgradeable for the future if the company grows .


So is this possible?
can one persone handle this project?
is it possible make this with ms acces or should i look for some other aplcation to develope this project?

if some one could point me to the right direction please.

P.S. i have a little experience on programing with c++ and nothing with basic, i have not experience on DB design.