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  #1  
Old December 1st, 2009, 04:48 PM posted to microsoft.public.access.tablesdbdesign
freddy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 38
Default New to the whole DB world

I am a desktop support person and I have a vbscript to inventory all the
computers on the network. I use the script to gather information like
username, memory, hard drive space, and I am thinking about getting installed
software. I have the script writing to an excel file, which is ok for now. I
would like to use Access 2003 but my problem is the design. Do I create one
table and have a field for username, computer name, memory, and so on or do I
create more than one table like for username and one for computername. Plus
how do I handle the installed software?
My idea was to have three tables: one for username which will have full
name, one for computername which will have all the computer stuff like
memory, hd, etc and one for software which will have software name, version,
installed date, etc. Please someone help me out.

Thanks
Freddt
  #2  
Old December 1st, 2009, 05:17 PM posted to microsoft.public.access.tablesdbdesign
Keith Wilby
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 812
Default New to the whole DB world

"freddy" wrote in message
...
I am a desktop support person and I have a vbscript to inventory all the
computers on the network. I use the script to gather information like
username, memory, hard drive space, and I am thinking about getting
installed
software. I have the script writing to an excel file, which is ok for now.
I
would like to use Access 2003 but my problem is the design. Do I create
one
table and have a field for username, computer name, memory, and so on or
do I
create more than one table like for username and one for computername.
Plus
how do I handle the installed software?
My idea was to have three tables: one for username which will have full
name, one for computername which will have all the computer stuff like
memory, hd, etc and one for software which will have software name,
version,
installed date, etc. Please someone help me out.

Thanks
Freddt


Think about entities with attributes and try to model them with your tables.
For example, can a user have more than one computer? If so then you need a
table for user (attributes: name, department, etc) and one for computers
(attributes: asset number, make, model etc) and there will be a one-to-many
relationship between them.

If a computer can have many users then there may be a many to many
relationship. That's the kind of thing you need to establish first because
your tables are the foundation of your app.

Keith.
www.keithwilby.co.uk

  #3  
Old December 1st, 2009, 05:17 PM posted to microsoft.public.access.tablesdbdesign
Keith Wilby
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 812
Default New to the whole DB world

"freddy" wrote in message
...
I am a desktop support person and I have a vbscript to inventory all the
computers on the network. I use the script to gather information like
username, memory, hard drive space, and I am thinking about getting
installed
software. I have the script writing to an excel file, which is ok for now.
I
would like to use Access 2003 but my problem is the design. Do I create
one
table and have a field for username, computer name, memory, and so on or
do I
create more than one table like for username and one for computername.
Plus
how do I handle the installed software?
My idea was to have three tables: one for username which will have full
name, one for computername which will have all the computer stuff like
memory, hd, etc and one for software which will have software name,
version,
installed date, etc. Please someone help me out.

Thanks
Freddt


Think about entities with attributes and try to model them with your tables.
For example, can a user have more than one computer? If so then you need a
table for user (attributes: name, department, etc) and one for computers
(attributes: asset number, make, model etc) and there will be a one-to-many
relationship between them.

If a computer can have many users then there may be a many to many
relationship. That's the kind of thing you need to establish first because
your tables are the foundation of your app.

Keith.
www.keithwilby.co.uk

  #4  
Old December 1st, 2009, 05:17 PM posted to microsoft.public.access.tablesdbdesign
Keith Wilby
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 812
Default New to the whole DB world

"freddy" wrote in message
...
I am a desktop support person and I have a vbscript to inventory all the
computers on the network. I use the script to gather information like
username, memory, hard drive space, and I am thinking about getting
installed
software. I have the script writing to an excel file, which is ok for now.
I
would like to use Access 2003 but my problem is the design. Do I create
one
table and have a field for username, computer name, memory, and so on or
do I
create more than one table like for username and one for computername.
Plus
how do I handle the installed software?
My idea was to have three tables: one for username which will have full
name, one for computername which will have all the computer stuff like
memory, hd, etc and one for software which will have software name,
version,
installed date, etc. Please someone help me out.

Thanks
Freddt


Think about entities with attributes and try to model them with your tables.
For example, can a user have more than one computer? If so then you need a
table for user (attributes: name, department, etc) and one for computers
(attributes: asset number, make, model etc) and there will be a one-to-many
relationship between them.

If a computer can have many users then there may be a many to many
relationship. That's the kind of thing you need to establish first because
your tables are the foundation of your app.

Keith.
www.keithwilby.co.uk

  #5  
Old December 1st, 2009, 06:10 PM posted to microsoft.public.access.tablesdbdesign
Bernard Peek[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 42
Default New to the whole DB world

In message , freddy
writes

My idea was to have three tables: one for username which will have full
name, one for computername which will have all the computer stuff like
memory, hd, etc and one for software which will have software name, version,
installed date, etc. Please someone help me out.


That's a plausible starting point but it will pay you to do some
groundwork with the traditional HB pencil and a large sheet of paper.
Don't forget the eraser, you will need it.

Start by plotting all of the entities on your paper, those are the types
of things that your system will know about. Machines will be there but
you may need to separate them into groups, for instance by physical
location. If so then locations will be another entity.

Once you have the entities, sketch in the relationships between them.
One location has many machines so draw a 1:many arrow from Locations to
Machines. The traditional format is a line with a crows-foot symbol at
the many end.

Now start detailing what attributes each entity has. That's the data
that your system needs to know about each instance of that entity. One
of those data items, or a combination of them, will uniquely identify
each instance of that entity. That attribute, or combination of
attributes becomes the Key of the entity. At this stage you shouldn't be
thinking about a Primary Key.

Put all of this design onto a clean sheet of paper, with the entities
arranged in some logical fashion. Go fishing for the weekend.

Come back and see whether the design still makes sense.

Now you can start turning each of those entities into an Access table.


--
Bernard Peek
  #6  
Old December 1st, 2009, 06:10 PM posted to microsoft.public.access.tablesdbdesign
Bernard Peek[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 42
Default New to the whole DB world

In message , freddy
writes

My idea was to have three tables: one for username which will have full
name, one for computername which will have all the computer stuff like
memory, hd, etc and one for software which will have software name, version,
installed date, etc. Please someone help me out.


That's a plausible starting point but it will pay you to do some
groundwork with the traditional HB pencil and a large sheet of paper.
Don't forget the eraser, you will need it.

Start by plotting all of the entities on your paper, those are the types
of things that your system will know about. Machines will be there but
you may need to separate them into groups, for instance by physical
location. If so then locations will be another entity.

Once you have the entities, sketch in the relationships between them.
One location has many machines so draw a 1:many arrow from Locations to
Machines. The traditional format is a line with a crows-foot symbol at
the many end.

Now start detailing what attributes each entity has. That's the data
that your system needs to know about each instance of that entity. One
of those data items, or a combination of them, will uniquely identify
each instance of that entity. That attribute, or combination of
attributes becomes the Key of the entity. At this stage you shouldn't be
thinking about a Primary Key.

Put all of this design onto a clean sheet of paper, with the entities
arranged in some logical fashion. Go fishing for the weekend.

Come back and see whether the design still makes sense.

Now you can start turning each of those entities into an Access table.


--
Bernard Peek
  #7  
Old December 1st, 2009, 06:10 PM posted to microsoft.public.access.tablesdbdesign
Bernard Peek[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 42
Default New to the whole DB world

In message , freddy
writes

My idea was to have three tables: one for username which will have full
name, one for computername which will have all the computer stuff like
memory, hd, etc and one for software which will have software name, version,
installed date, etc. Please someone help me out.


That's a plausible starting point but it will pay you to do some
groundwork with the traditional HB pencil and a large sheet of paper.
Don't forget the eraser, you will need it.

Start by plotting all of the entities on your paper, those are the types
of things that your system will know about. Machines will be there but
you may need to separate them into groups, for instance by physical
location. If so then locations will be another entity.

Once you have the entities, sketch in the relationships between them.
One location has many machines so draw a 1:many arrow from Locations to
Machines. The traditional format is a line with a crows-foot symbol at
the many end.

Now start detailing what attributes each entity has. That's the data
that your system needs to know about each instance of that entity. One
of those data items, or a combination of them, will uniquely identify
each instance of that entity. That attribute, or combination of
attributes becomes the Key of the entity. At this stage you shouldn't be
thinking about a Primary Key.

Put all of this design onto a clean sheet of paper, with the entities
arranged in some logical fashion. Go fishing for the weekend.

Come back and see whether the design still makes sense.

Now you can start turning each of those entities into an Access table.


--
Bernard Peek
  #8  
Old December 1st, 2009, 08:47 PM posted to microsoft.public.access.tablesdbdesign
John W. Vinson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,261
Default New to the whole DB world

On Tue, 1 Dec 2009 07:48:01 -0800, freddy
wrote:

I am a desktop support person and I have a vbscript to inventory all the
computers on the network. I use the script to gather information like
username, memory, hard drive space, and I am thinking about getting installed
software. I have the script writing to an excel file, which is ok for now. I
would like to use Access 2003 but my problem is the design. Do I create one
table and have a field for username, computer name, memory, and so on or do I
create more than one table like for username and one for computername. Plus
how do I handle the installed software?
My idea was to have three tables: one for username which will have full
name, one for computername which will have all the computer stuff like
memory, hd, etc and one for software which will have software name, version,
installed date, etc. Please someone help me out.

Thanks
Freddt


You'll need more tables than that - in particular, you'll want one table for
Software (with one record each for Microsoft Word 2007, Zork-1, etc.), and
another table for SoftwareInstalled, with links to the table of computers and
the table of software, and fields for date installed, etc.

Here are some resources to get started. The tutorials at the end of the list
may be particularly helpful:

Jeff Conrad's resources page:
http://www.accessmvp.com/JConrad/acc...resources.html

The Access Web resources page:
http://www.mvps.org/access/resources/index.html

Roger Carlson's tutorials, samples and tips:
http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/

A free tutorial written by Crystal:
http://allenbrowne.com/casu-22.html

A video how-to series by Crystal:
http://www.YouTube.com/user/LearnAccessByCrystal

MVP Allen Browne's tutorials:
http://allenbrowne.com/links.html#Tutorials

--

John W. Vinson [MVP]
  #9  
Old December 1st, 2009, 08:47 PM posted to microsoft.public.access.tablesdbdesign
John W. Vinson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,261
Default New to the whole DB world

On Tue, 1 Dec 2009 07:48:01 -0800, freddy
wrote:

I am a desktop support person and I have a vbscript to inventory all the
computers on the network. I use the script to gather information like
username, memory, hard drive space, and I am thinking about getting installed
software. I have the script writing to an excel file, which is ok for now. I
would like to use Access 2003 but my problem is the design. Do I create one
table and have a field for username, computer name, memory, and so on or do I
create more than one table like for username and one for computername. Plus
how do I handle the installed software?
My idea was to have three tables: one for username which will have full
name, one for computername which will have all the computer stuff like
memory, hd, etc and one for software which will have software name, version,
installed date, etc. Please someone help me out.

Thanks
Freddt


You'll need more tables than that - in particular, you'll want one table for
Software (with one record each for Microsoft Word 2007, Zork-1, etc.), and
another table for SoftwareInstalled, with links to the table of computers and
the table of software, and fields for date installed, etc.

Here are some resources to get started. The tutorials at the end of the list
may be particularly helpful:

Jeff Conrad's resources page:
http://www.accessmvp.com/JConrad/acc...resources.html

The Access Web resources page:
http://www.mvps.org/access/resources/index.html

Roger Carlson's tutorials, samples and tips:
http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/

A free tutorial written by Crystal:
http://allenbrowne.com/casu-22.html

A video how-to series by Crystal:
http://www.YouTube.com/user/LearnAccessByCrystal

MVP Allen Browne's tutorials:
http://allenbrowne.com/links.html#Tutorials

--

John W. Vinson [MVP]
  #10  
Old December 1st, 2009, 08:47 PM posted to microsoft.public.access.tablesdbdesign
John W. Vinson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,261
Default New to the whole DB world

On Tue, 1 Dec 2009 07:48:01 -0800, freddy
wrote:

I am a desktop support person and I have a vbscript to inventory all the
computers on the network. I use the script to gather information like
username, memory, hard drive space, and I am thinking about getting installed
software. I have the script writing to an excel file, which is ok for now. I
would like to use Access 2003 but my problem is the design. Do I create one
table and have a field for username, computer name, memory, and so on or do I
create more than one table like for username and one for computername. Plus
how do I handle the installed software?
My idea was to have three tables: one for username which will have full
name, one for computername which will have all the computer stuff like
memory, hd, etc and one for software which will have software name, version,
installed date, etc. Please someone help me out.

Thanks
Freddt


You'll need more tables than that - in particular, you'll want one table for
Software (with one record each for Microsoft Word 2007, Zork-1, etc.), and
another table for SoftwareInstalled, with links to the table of computers and
the table of software, and fields for date installed, etc.

Here are some resources to get started. The tutorials at the end of the list
may be particularly helpful:

Jeff Conrad's resources page:
http://www.accessmvp.com/JConrad/acc...resources.html

The Access Web resources page:
http://www.mvps.org/access/resources/index.html

Roger Carlson's tutorials, samples and tips:
http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/

A free tutorial written by Crystal:
http://allenbrowne.com/casu-22.html

A video how-to series by Crystal:
http://www.YouTube.com/user/LearnAccessByCrystal

MVP Allen Browne's tutorials:
http://allenbrowne.com/links.html#Tutorials

--

John W. Vinson [MVP]
 




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