Re: Creatinig a database to update in alphabetical order

On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 00:29:07 -0700, "RagghiantiGirl"
<RagghiantiGirl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


>I wanted to thank you, for your information, (as well as Mike Revis, for the
>little tidbit about punctuation.) Anything else you gentlemen might be able
>to think of to help me, a "Newb" in Access Usage, would be most appreciative.

You're welcome! We'll see if we can help.

>Here is my situation!
>
>My friends, know I am a movie fanatic. I get close to 60 a year from them,
>and want to be able to read, what I have, since I have over 1000 DVD tiltles,
>& close to double that, including my VHS & CD collection.

>Here is my plan:
>To create, an alphabetical list, that I can add on to, as they are bought,
>or given to me, as presents, without having to constantly worry about losing
>the alphabetical table order.

That's not how databases work.

A Table is JUST A HEAP OF DATA. When you get a new DVD, just add it to
the table (or, see below, tables).

You can then create a Query which takes all of the records in the
table and sorts them alphabetically; this sorted list can then be
displayed on a Form, or printed on a Report, or even (though this
should not be routine) displayed as a query data***.

Tomorrow you might want to satisfy your curiosity about the history of
purchases - you could simply change the query so that the DVD's are
sorted in order of date purchased, and display that chronological
list. The table doesn't change - just the Query and the presentation.

>This should work well, since I keep them
>stored on a wall shelf in my Den's walk-in closet, off the same room, where
>my Home Entertainment Center /Computer are located. Since I use my 36"
>wide-screen HDTV, for my PC anyway, I figured, I could just read the list
>stored, on my PC(in an Access table, from what I've learned so far) when I
>want to watch something from my collection.
>
>I have to constantly look at each DVD, VHS Tape or CD case, to know what It
>is I feel like seeing, or listen to.
>So, I want to create an Access Table for each, so that I can just add the
>new titles
>as they come in, thus keeping my list as orderly, as my collection.

You need ONE table of DVD's - not one table for each.

The logic of relational database design is a rather deep subject, but
the basics are very simple. Identify the "Entities" - real-life
persons, things, or events - of importance. Each type of Entity gets
one table. Then identify the important "Attributes" of each entity.
Some attributes of a movie would be the Title (of course), the studio,
the date issued, running time, etc. If an attribute has multiple
values (Actors, say) then you need *another table*.

I'd see eventually having at least the following tables:

Movies
MovieID Autonumber Primary Key ' links tables together
Title
Medium <DVD, VHS, CD, Super-8 film, 8-track tape...>
Studio
Rating <G, PG, ...>
IssueDate
PurchaseDate
...

Actors
ActorID Autonumber PrimaryKey
LastName
FirstName
<any other desired bio information>

Cast
MovieID ' what movie does this actor play in
ActorID ' who's in the cast
Role ' what part did they play

Keywords
Keyword <e.g. Adventure, Comedy, etc.>

MovieKeywords
MovieID
Keyword


John W. Vinson[MVP]


.

Loading