![]() |
FoxPop |
www.foxpop.co.uk |
POWERBASE TUTORIAL 15
By Laurie Jane KernConcluding our tutorial Series
Yes, the time has finally come to conclude the second part of our FoxPop PowerBase tutorials! In these tutorials we have taken you through two stages -
The first stage introduced you to the PowerBase Program, and how it works, by demonstrating how to create your own Address Book [tutorials 1-9]
The second stage introduced you to more advanced uses of the program, by transforming the Address Book into a Contact Database [tutorials 10-15]
Oh, and by the way, I did not forget to build you the final Sample 14 database, our final design for the Contact Database.
In this "tutorial" I am going to go over some topics we learned in the first part of the tutorial sequence, and give you some ideas to pursue on your own. But before we begin I will tell you that over the next months I will still be available to answer questions and every once and a while a new Q&A page will be posted. Are you asking yourself "Is that it? What's next?" Well, I have been passed a rumor that PowerBase Pro is due out some time in the fall. So you may be able to guess what will most likely happen then! - Yes, we may well start a new series of tutorials that will cover the Pro edition.
SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR YOUR DATABASE.
Now, having completed the Contact database, you may decide that you dont like this particular design, and that is OK. You might want to keep that database design we had in Tutorial 12. You can download any variation of the dB we have worked through, and customize it to suit your own specific needs. In settling on the final design I made my own thinking quite clear so that you could understand why I opted for this final shape. There is nothing intrinsically better about the final version it suits my own needs. I expect that there will be many variations appearing soon!
Here is a suggestion which might prove useful, especially if you find it difficult to view all the information. Use custom views to display certain information. You could have one view for telephone numbers, another for the address. You could even add a Table that links People with Businesses.
In the database I use, I do not have a "birthday field" in my People Table, I have another Table named "Special Dates". It has an ID to the People Table, a date field, and a type field. I use this Table not only for Birthdays I also have Anniversaries and a few other "special dates".
PowerBase Templates - Have you ever looked at the Contacts database that you can generate from a template within PowerBase? It uses a Table for all addresses and uses a relational field that points back to the same Table so you can reference a persons home address and work address. Yes, this format does violate the First Normal Form, but it is a nifty idea!
The other template Tables you should look at in thinking about our sample Contact database is the Tasks and Journal Tables. If you really want to turn the "Contact database" into a "Contact manager" these Tables can help you.
You might also want to review Tutorial 9, which covered various tips and tricks.
VIEWS AND GROUPS FOR YOUR DATABASE
I have not done any special views for the database, I find myself using the Card view for most of the primary Tables and List view for the lookups. That does not mean you can't add some. Refer back to Tutorial 7 if you need a refresher.
In my database I have made groups for each Table, based upon how the information is differentiated. The Phone Table(s) has groups for each phone type, The Business Table has groups for each Business type and so on. Again I did not include those groups because your "lookup" Tables may be different.
THANK YOUS
It has been great fun and I want to thank everyone who has stuck with the series, it has taken seven months to complete, and I think you all deserve an accolade and several gold stars! Thanks too to all of you who sent me email wondering when the next tutorial would be. I know that there were, at times, several weeks between the tutorials but the demands of my day job (as a consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers) kept me away - literally and figuratively.
I think we all owe Purple Software a big thank you for providing me with support because, Yes! I too had questions!! We should also remember Elisabeth Liddell who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes as editor for the entire series, and to John Woodthorpe, who stepped into her shoes on a few occasions.
End of Oscar acceptance speech! ;-)
Email: ljkern@foxpop.co.uk
Email: elisabeth@foxpop.ndirect.co.uk
School is now out and see you in the fall!
Laurie Kern
© LJKern and FoxPop 1999