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  1. #1
    Aschwenker is offline Novice
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    Advice on building a database to locate certain boxes in storage


    I am needing advice on how to build a relational database to easily track where a certain box is here at my work. We have a lot of boxes that contain financial records, work order numbers, and paperwork that is defined (certifications). I have made three separate tables and they all work great on their own for data entry. My issue is all these boxes are stored in one room, on the same shelf, and hold very little in common besides the shelf they sit on. My end goal here is to be able to have a report that shows 1) Where a particular box is, and 2) show who accomplished it.

    I have attached a picture to show what type of boxes are separated into each category. When I return to work tomorrow, I will check to see if this makes sense. I will be more than willing to show more if I can get some inspiration.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Select boxes.jpg  

  2. #2
    orange's Avatar
    orange is online now Moderator
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    Welcome to the forum.

    Very generally you have a A structure that is divided into Shelves and shelf areas. And a shelfArea that can contains 1 or Many Boxes where a Box can contain 1 or Many Items. We don't know what's in a box so identifying the contents to easily find an Item amongst Items. Are the Items in a Box stored inany particular fashion? If so, that would be taken into consideration as well.
    It appears your shelves are identified by ShelfArea eg 2J.
    Do the boxes get moved from Shelf o Shelf or from ShelfArea to another ShelfArea on same or different shelf?

    Do you have any test scenarios that indicate the types of things you would be retrieving?
    What exactly is the purpose for this application/ Who is the ultimate user?

  3. #3
    Micron is online now Virtually Inert Person
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    Looks to me like one table ought to be enough. AutonumberID | Position | BoxNumber | etc. A field for contents description would make sense, otherwise you have to go there to know what's in any particular box. I don't see much in the way of unique identifiers for the boxes and that would be a must.

    What prompted you to make 3 tables for this?
    The more we hear silence, the more we begin to think about our value in this universe.
    Paraphrase of Professor Brian Cox.

  4. #4
    orange's Avatar
    orange is online now Moderator
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    My post was a generalization of what the picture and text said to me. I see shelves -multiple rows and multiple columns - with multiple boxes in each section. That's the abstract picture to be moulded by the details and examples only known by the designer and his/her environment. The location of a box does not seem to be the big picture to me (and I recognize I could be wrong). The boxes contain "something" and the something may be (best guess/worst case) the important part of the application. I'm waiting for the ultimate intended use of the proposed database.
    One table could/might accommodate the need, but that may represent the "shoebox" method of storing family photos.
    Requirements, facts and some test cases will carve away at the abstraction and lead to a design.

  5. #5
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    Hi

    My initial thoughts are that:-

    Box No Yr2013 is located on Shelf 1J and Contains many documents

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

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