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  1. #1
    Kia is offline Novice
    Windows 10 Access 2016
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
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    1

    confused about task allocation and self-relations

    After having been trying all night I dare to ask these questions.
    While having worked with access as a user before, this is the first time I am trying to set up a database - aiming at a family tree.
    In the end: (How) is it possible to create a presentation with tree-structure?

    For the database, Google gave me loads of different models. Some put all their data into one table, like the concrete names of the familymembers (sheet view), others seem to do that by forms. How does it need to be done?

    Besides, I have found a model suggesting to build a chain of self-relations, duplicating the table 20 times e.g. and relate the fathers and mothers ID with the personal (primary key) ID of one copy each; the fathers and mothers ID with each a personal ID of another copy and so on.


    I was wondering if doing that once isnīt enough?
    Or to have an extra fathers and mothers table?

    I think the gold standard were self-completing fields for e.g. fathers data (birthdate, eye- and haircolor and so on, so that the data is recorded only once - and most importantly: fatherīs father, fatherīs mother, fatherīs fatherīs father.... and so on).

    Is there any chance to do that?
    I have found http://www.databaseanswers.org/data_...logy/index.htm
    but couldnīt find out what the relations mean, what they are for in detail and how this looks as a form or maybe as a tree?

  2. #2
    orange's Avatar
    orange is offline Moderator
    Windows 10 Access 2010 32bit
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; West Palm Beach FL
    Posts
    16,716
    Here is an article that may help - http://www.utteraccess.com/wiki/inde...Data_Structure

    However, if this is your first database, I would recommend you work through some tutorials and create a few databases to understand the concepts involved. You really should have some familiarity with Normalization and data modelling before "jumping in" to Access or any database management system. Family trees and inventory control systems are quite complex applications.

    What is your motivation to build a family tree database? Are you aware that there are some free packages, as well as commercial packages(software), to create and maintain family trees(genealogy)? If you are planning to create a family tree and, in future, move it to ancestry.com or other site, you should be familiar with GEDCOM.

    For a little background to help you with any decision you make, here are some things to review.

    -video series by Dr. Daniel Soper on database --see videos 1,2 and 4 (as a start)
    -tutorial from RogersAccessLibrary to get some familiarity with design concepts
    -any articles by Joe Celko who has written much on trees and hierarchies

    Good luck with your project and decisions.

Please reply to this thread with any new information or opinions.

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