Simple database input form for non computer savvy people?

[Black_Blade]

Hello everybody, I have just began trying to learn how to create a few simple databases for a place I work. Its a cab company that has about 40 cars in its fleet, I am an apprentice auto service tech under the two mechanics and am trying to improve the organization of the repair shop. At the moment all the vehicles in the fleet are brought in every month for a safety inspection, where all things are checked over to ensure the vehicles are in good working order. All the cars have a binder in which all service records are kept, but this form is one of those ones thats been copied a million times too much and is barely legible, as is the handwriting of the mechanics when they fill out the forms each time a vehicle is brought into the shop. The next issue is whenever there is any question about what work has been done on a particular car, searching back through these hard to read forms is time consuming to say the least. The last issue concerns the stockroom where commonly needed parts are kept, I have been given the job of organizing this room, which has lead me on this crusade to fix all three problems..lol.

The owners of the company are neither computer savvy nor have more than a passing basic knowledge of auto mechanics, just know enough to get by in both departments. The mechanics I am apprenticed under, while of course having the automotive know how, are at a loss with using computers, we have a PC that has service/repair programs on them (Mitchell On Demand, etc) and the limit of their skills is knowing how to pull up something on these programs and printing off a page of information from it.

I am trying to put together as simple of a system as possible that would enable me to have an easy to use input form to replace the paper copies now being used. This would be the fleet service logs. One of the fields of this form would be for any parts used from the stockroom or have to be ordered in as needed. So this field would be linked to another table that is basically our inventory of parts, which would be updated whenever a part is used in a repair or when we order in more stock.

The owners don't have the funds to have a computer tech company to design them some software for all this, so I am going to attempt to figure this out (with help ) for them, so that the repair shop can run more organized and the ordering of parts that get we already have can be eliminated.

[pbaldy]

Welcome aboard! I actually also work for a cab company (plus limos and buses) and have written that type of application. I don't see a question, so I'll just recommend researching normalization, as getting the table layout correct is half the battle. Here's one link:

Fundamentals of Relational Database Design -- r937.com

[Black_Blade]

I have made a few tables, and also a form to input any repairs needed to any car on the fleet, but the moment they are not connected in any way. How would I go about linking the column "parts", which is any parts used in a repair, to the corresponding column on the other table that is the inventory of all the parts. Can you have the inventory amount decrease by one everytime you use a part?

[pbaldy]

Typically you would use a combo box that got its selections from the parts table but was bound to the repair table.

As to decreasing the inventory, I wouldn't bother. I calculate quantity on hand on the fly, by subtracting parts used from parts received. There's a discussion of the concept here, though his function is overkill in smaller applications:

http://allenbrowne.com/AppInventory.html