Help needed on Contracts Portfolio database

[futurecoder]

Hello,



I need help on the steps to planning a contracts portfolio database. I have searched the Internet extensively and while I have found tutorials on contracts databases, I have not found a way to add, remove, and track funding to records. As far as I can tell, I only need to create two tables for this project, Managers and Contracts. I plan to have the database perform graphic depictions of trending but that is in the future. Before creating any tables, queries, or forms, I would like to know the steps of planning this properly and then flow-charting it. Prof. Richard Holowczak at Baruch College City University created a good tutorial for a database of bank balances but that tutorial did not cover how to update client records with withdrawals and deposits). This is very easy (but cumbersome) in Excel but I do not know how I would go about doing it in Access. I would be appreciative of your feedback. My research showed that there are a number of affordable portfolio management databases available for download, but my workplace has a strict download policy so I have to create this myself.
Thanks in advance for your assistance.

[HiTechCoach]

You will need a transaction/ledger table for tracking funds for each contract.

[HiTechCoach]

Hello,

I need help on the steps to planning a contracts portfolio database. I have searched the Internet extensively and while I have found tutorials on contracts databases, I have not found a way to add, remove, and track funding to records. As far as I can tell, I only need to create two tables for this project, Managers and Contracts. I plan to have the database perform graphic depictions of trending but that is in the future. Before creating any tables, queries, or forms, I would like to know the steps of planning this properly and then flow-charting it. Prof. Richard Holowczak at Baruch College City University created a good tutorial for a database of bank balances but that tutorial did not cover how to update client records with withdrawals and deposits). This is very easy (but cumbersome) in Excel but I do not know how I would go about doing it in Access. I would be appreciative of your feedback. My research showed that there are a number of affordable portfolio management databases available for download, but my workplace has a strict download policy so I have to create this myself.
Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Is this the tutorial?

http://cisnet.baruch.cuny.edu/holowc...accessall.html

The above tutorial is good at showing you how to use Access. It is NOT a good example of how to create a database to track account balances with a properly normalized database.

[futurecoder]

Thanks for responding. The link you provided is the tutorial to which I alluded, and although it was a very good beginners' tutorial, it did not show how to produce or maintain a ledger in Access. Do you know of any tutorials that would show me how to do this? I think I would have to create a ledger for each contract.

[HiTechCoach]

Thanks for responding. The link you provided is the tutorial to which I alluded, and although it was a very good beginners' tutorial, it did not show how to produce or maintain a ledger in Access. Do you know of any tutorials that would show me how to do this?

The tutorial you looked as was not to teach you database design theory. It was only showing you how to use Access to create a database that you have already design using the rules of data normalization. The example datbase they create was a trivil database. It was not a well designed database. That would have made the tutorial way to long.

I think I would have to create a ledger for each contract.

That would be incorrect and not normalized.That is how you would do it is you were designing a spreadsheet. That is not a good design for a relational database.

In a relational database you use a single table as the ledger for all contracts.

It is not much different that using two tables for invoices for all customers. You have a header table and a line item table.

To learn how to properly design a database you can search the web for: database normalization

Database normalization is a design theory that applies to all relational databases. Most of the good tutorial on database normalization will not be for a specific database engine. Don't worry about looking for something specific to the JET (.mdb) or ACE (.accdb) database engines.