Help required to make a database/spreadsheet

Hi

I need to help my dad make some sort of a stock record database for his work. (its a small business so they cant really afford to pay someone thousands of pounds to make a bespoke system!)

basically, the business produces nuts, in various sizes.

in the workshop there will be a computer. on this computer will be entered stock levels for each DIFFERENT SIZE of nut.

in the office will be another computer and what we are trying to do is devise a system by which, when the stock level is edited on the computer in the workshop it is shown on the computer in the office too. (computers will be networked by the way)


now, the problem i have is the following:

it is really easy to set up an excel spreadsheet, however, i dont think (over a network anyway) that a file can be edited by TWO users. my understanding is that if one use has the file open, it cannot be edited by another user, only read (in read-only mode)


my other thought was of using some sort of database. however, i know nothing of databases!

there are over 200 different sizes, for which there has to be a SEPERATE sheet/record showing stock level, description, type, date in/out, name of person who signs stock out.


can anyone help me with this? or point me in the direction of a guide or something that will?

just making an excel spreadsheet edit-able by more than one user may be enough, but of course, the change wont show on other computer unless the person opens it up again!


is it possible to produce something like this? would be great if the gurus of bit-tech could help!

thanx

 

There are 2 options in my opinion.

Best but time consuming and involves knowledge/work...

If you're any good on Dreamweaver (or another web package) - you could set up an SQL (google MySQL) server and design a couple of basic pages. The bonus of this is it's completely customisable, has very few limits and can be accessed on the internet. The down side is you'll need some basic knowledge and a server.

Option 2.

Microsoft Access allows multiple users at any time. It's easy to setup and use... Their wizards should give you plenty of guidance - but you could use reports to show when stock is at a certain level.





I'm sure there are otherways you could get the results you want though, so have a google and a quick think.

 

Excel can be set up as a shared book, however it does have a habit of corrupting. To update changes made by other users you just have to save the copy you have open.

Having said that a DB is definetly the way to go. If you've got office (open or ms) then the package that comes with it is sufficient for these needs. You can effectively use it like a spread sheet if you don't want to worry about tables and links, its bad practice but it'll get you going till you get some experience with tricks like normalisation. Just fire it up and start playing once you get an idea of how you want it to look start googling for tutorials. You'll have a working database in no time.

 

hey

thanx for the replies

i'm going to be going with access i think, simply because it seems a lot better when sharing the file.

the sql thingy sounds interesting too, im going to read a little more into it

what i've sort of put down on paper is the following:

screen full of little buttons, each button having the relevant size written on it.

you click this button, it snaps into a spreadsheet type of thing where you have the whole date, description, quantity, material and name of person

that would be pretty fantastic to set up! but i dont know where to start.

this mySQL thing, is it free? i cant be using any *ahem* freely *ahem* available software if you catch my drift!

 

maybe overkill but a sql background whilst using a c# frontend would work pretty well would be very easy to creat a few reports based on this as well

 

You may find a ready-made template you can modify to suit here. The MS SQL Express program is free.

 

I'd recommend Universal Table Editor.

It will work with pretty much any DB & is very easy to setup. Just have the main PC acting as the web server use IIS (as it's easy to setup). Create your db in access. Use the column names that you have already mentioned (stock level, description, type, date in/out, name of person who signs stock out). Then save the file & use UTE to edit the db. You can always go back into access & add columns etc. UTE will allow you to run SQL queries (great for reports), sort columns (easier to read & find what you want), it also has a search & includes pagination.

If you need a hand setting this up. PM me & I'll try to help.

 

One point for MS Access here. If you need it, software exists to help build a front-end for multiple users to update the database simultaneously.