Fundamental Database Structure

Oct 27, 2005

Hi People,

I am building a database of in-car audio systems. Stored in this are simple things like vehicle information, audio brand and other general information. The main information I need to store includes details about speakers (position, quantity, material, range, size etc.) and amplifiers (power output, no. of channels etc.). Sounds simple I hope.

I have been thinking about this extensively and have come up with two solutions, each with its own pros and cons. My primary concern here is how the speaker and amplifier information is stored:

1) Tables specific to car regions (e.g. Rear Speakers, Front Speaker, Surround Speakers) have the fields 'Range', 'Material', Size, etc. Range and material can read their values from other look-up tables no probs. These would be linked to the main table via it's primary key in a 1-M relationship.
-Pros:
Ease of construction and general handling of data
Flexibilty/expandability (in terms of speaker quantity)
-Cons:
When it comes to data entry the form would need to be continuous and continuous forms I have found to be a pain in terms of referring to individual records!
I want some of these controls to conrol a diagram for my report (and input form) - such that they show/hide speaker pictures on a car diagram. Also, I have not yet figured out how to validate a continuous form in this situation or delete records from it either (should the user makes an error).

2) Again, tables specific to car regions but this time with a field for each speaker range (mid-range, tweeter, woofer, etc.) and it's associated data, tied to the main table via the main table ID in 1:M relationships.
-Pros:
Easy to manipulate form/report properties because every speaker has its own field
Easier to remove erroneous data (I imagine)
-Cons:
More complex construction (and less efficient) - e.g. material occurs more than once for each record so to look up material form a central pool requires an intermediate table
Many many more fields!
Non-expandable in terms of speaker quantity

Similar principals can be applied to amplifiers so I haven't mentioned those.

So what do you think? Or is there another way...

Hope that all makes sense!

Thanks for your time,

Bobadopolis

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Jun 2, 2005

I've searched the forums and can find loads of info about 'user level security' and 'workgroups security'. There's so much, I'm lost in the forest.

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We have a workgroup network (not domain), I share the backend out to users on other PC (typically XP Home and Professional) and internal access security is fine.

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:confused:
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FirstName, Text
MiddleName, Text
LastName, Text
DateJoined, Date
Phone, Text
Address, Text
City , Text
Zip, Text
EmailAddress
BirthDate, Date
Member, Boolean

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MemberId, FK
ChoirId, FK
FolderNo
RobeNo
Section
ChoirOfficeId, Fk

CHOIRS DB (This lists the various choirs in the Church)
ChoirId, pk
ChoirName, Text
DirectorId, FK (Pointing to Member DB, Person may not be member of any Choir)

MUSIC DB
CatalogId, PK
Title
Composer
Arranger
Type (Single Copy/octavo or book/collection)
PublisherId, FK
PublisherNumber
VoicingId, FK (From table with possible voicing)
NumCopies
UsageId, FK (Where in the service is it appropriate
Location, Text (Where in the filing system, or off site)
ClassificationId, FK (List of classification/genre in table so can update)

PUBLISHER DB
PublisherId, PK
PublisherName
PublisherAddress
PublisherPhone
PublisherWeb
PublisherContact

MUSIC CLASSIFICATION DB
ClassificationId, PK
Classification, Text (Christmas, Easter, general anthem etc)

To be able to track performances and plan services and performances I have the following table.

PERFORMANCE DB (This is to keep track of and plan the regular service)
PerformanceId, PK
Pdate, date (Date of Past/Planned performance. Possibly more than one per day)
ServiceTypeId, FK (From table of types of performances – morning service, evening, etc)
Location
Speaker
Pianist
Organist
Introit
Invocation
Anthem
Meditation
Benediction
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Would be grateful for your comments, Thanks!!

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Hello,
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__

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Hi ,
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1. Option1
1.1 A1
1.2 A2
1.3 A3
1.3.1 AA1
1.3.2 AA2
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2. Option2
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3. Option3

........................
........................
........................


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Date
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Hi all,

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Hi everyone. This is my first post here, I hope I'm making it to the right forum!

I'm currently experimenting with databases with an idea to move them online in order to create SQL & PhP driven websites. I'm a long way off actually making them live, though, and have become stuck today on trying to create the best structure for a specific database.

I've searched for example databases to see how other people might have solved this problem, but it's very hard to find another database with exactly the same issue.

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Basically my current database involves cataloguing a particular video game series. Each game title in the series has information attached to it (eg. platform, developer, trivia, data released etc.), but some games have spin-off titles with the same information stored about them.

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This database is as much an exercise in creating a completely "correct" database as anything, so I want to reduce data duplication as much as possible (completely?).

I've attached a picture of my database as it stands at the moment (with no spin-off information added), I hope this might help someone understand my problem.

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PS - Here's the "key" to the diagram.

tblTitles - Game information
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Hi,

Context
I am a database novice currently in the process of building an access database to manage production in a manufacturing company.

Simplified Version of Problem
Suppose I wanted to build a database to manage the baking process at a bakery.

Goal is to eventually generate a report from this database that tells the baker i) which raw ingredients to use and ii) gives instructions on baking his cake from the raw ingredients.

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Specific Question

How do you recommend setting-up tblCakeIngredients?
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Ingredient_1 (links to tblRawIngredients)
Quantity_1
Ingredient_2 (links to tblRawIngredients)
Quantity_2
Ingredient_3 (links to tblRawIngredients)
Quantity_3
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Quantity_4
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