Tracking changes/metadata added later?

[cj1997]

Hi everyone,

Quick question - just building my first database (so. much. pain). Will take >1 year to collect/enter thesis data. Eventually I want to make it open to others/make changes as new research is done. Can I add change-tracking etc. later (perhaps once I know ANYTHING about code etc.). Basically - can I worry about that later, or--like structure etc.--does it have to be set up before I can enter any data to begin with??

(for the initial part in which I am the only one using the db I was planning on just having it stamp the date of the original entry)


Thanks!

 

[jdraw]

I recommend you read and work through this tutorial to ensure your database structure (tables an relationships) match your needs.

http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/Tutorials/Entity_Relationship.zip

As for capturing data and reuse --all is possible. The key is to make sure your design represents your "business" scenario.

Good luck.

 

[cj1997]

Thank you very much for the link!

I am still tinkering out structure issues. But good to know that I can add tracking features down the road!

thanks again!

 

[cj1997]

Thank you for the advice! I have used the number sign in a number of cases to indicate fields that are primary or foreign keys (and therefore also numbers). Does this then make it more difficult later on with Access? If so I could always go back through and change each instance to 'Num'. I will audit all my table/column names to make sure they are consistent!

Also, I just wanted to clarify. When you talk about changing the schema are you referring to the structure of the database itself? Or were you specifically talking about adding event/changes tracking in the future? I am wondering because I am making my finishing touches to the structure right now (before starting data entry), but in the future (when other people may have access to the data or I want to update things), I want to add the ability to track changes made. I am hoping to do it later only because it will give me more time to learn code etc, and I need to start entering certain parts of the data ASAP while I have access to them.

Thanks!