Next Step in Creating a db

[CharissaBelle]

Here I am again. With the help of this forum, I have been working on my first ever Access database. Thank you everyone! I need to know if I'm ready to start making some tables.



I have a narrative and a list of entities and attributes which I used to draw out an ER diagram. I have built tables, established relationships, entered some testing data, and tested with some queries. So far it's all looking good. What is the next step?

[ssanfu]

Did you use spaces in your object names? A no-no
Did you use punctuation or special characters (exception is the underscore) in your object names? A no-no
Did you use any reserved word as object names?
Examples of reserved words are that are commonly used (but shouldn't be):
Date
Time
Month
Year
Description

Plus, the first 4 are not very descriptive. "Date" if what? "Month" of what?

Here is a list of Access/SQL reserved words:
http://allenbrowne.com/AppIssueBadWord.html


You could post your narrative and your tables/relationships for review.....

More reading (if you choose):
Autonumbers--What they are NOT and What They Are
http://www.utteraccess.com/wiki/index.php/Autonumbers


Microsoft Access Tables: Primary Key Tips and Techniques
http://www.fmsinc.com/free/newtips/primarykey.asp

I use an autonumber field as my PK field in 99.99% of my tables.


You might take the time to work through the tutorials at
Rogers Access Library
http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/forum/forum46.html


If this dB is going to be used by many people, is your dB split into a Front End (FE) and Back End (BE)?
The BE has just the tables and the FE has everything else.



You can download:
Fundamentals of Relational Database Design
http://sbuweb.tcu.edu/bjones/20263/A...sDB_Design.pdf

[CharissaBelle]

Thank you Steve.

I'm feeling pretty good about what I've done after looking at your list. I've done everything except the splitting between a FE and BE. Do you know of any good resources that I could read on this subject?

[ssanfu]

Again, (last time I'll suggest ) you could post your narrative and your tables/relationships for review.....

Allen Browne has an article: http://allenbrowne.com/ser-01.html

Albert Kallal has an article: http://www.kallal.ca/Articles/split/index.htm
(You might wan to browse Albert's site: http://www.kallal.ca/)

[CharissaBelle]

Again, (last time I'll suggest ) you could post your narrative and your tables/relationships for review.....

So... I did this using pen and paper and a bunch of whiteout... I'm not sure people would be able to read my handwriting. I'll try to type it up and then I can post it. I expect typing it would be good anyway just for documentation sake.

Thanks for the resources!