[SOLVED] Relational Database Programs

[Garthhh]

a few years ago I had done some stuff with MS access
I like the way I could create forms & reports keeping the spreadsheet where the actual data was isolated from users
libreoffice base is a bit buggy & not under active development
I need something with some continuity, stability
something that plays well with KDE
suggestions?

[pmithrandir]

Hi,

What is your level ? Are you a professional developer, did you use Orale, mysql, postgres ?

I think there is some way to have datas in mariaDb(mysql free version) and to use it from open office / office... but I'm not really familiar with it. It will of course be accessible from KDE, even I don't know how.

If you install mariaDb, you should also install mysqlworkbench, that will allow you to design you schema, to execute queries or to administrate your server.

Pierre

[Garthhh]

I'm not a developer
just doing a bit of small business stuff
I need some basic resource management, easy enough on a spreadsheet
just a bit more polished than that, limiting the access to the data is very helpful, as is being able to have some reports [queries]
mariadb looks a bit to reliant on terminal [cli] for me
Calligra may do it
it installed on a machine with a gnome DE also, which would be another requirement
might even run on windows reasonably well

[doktor5000]

You should know what you want, Access if just a graphical frontend to TSQL, microsoft's SQL implementation.
mariadb/mysql, postgres, oracle, db2 et. al. are relational databases, server-client based.

You may try out libreoffice base, that would remotely match what Access does.

[Garthhh]

I have tried both the libre office & the OO version of base neither of which is actually usable
Kexi seems to work & have an active developer

do any other graphical frontends for sql come to mind?
I'm not going to go the wine/access/ms office route

I'm also looking at gnucash, as k my money is not as operating system neutral
besides accounting I need to be able to deal with different sorts of inventories & workorders
I'll probably be better off if I can have my own custom forms for inputting data specific to our needs, this really makes it easier to understand for the users

[doktor5000]

Maybe you could just tell what you need, but please be clear and precise about it.
Database, graphical frontend, some forms, inventory lists, workorders, spreadsheets ... those are all totally different things and need different programs.

[Garthhh]

home grown mrp
I had done a similar thing for a different project using ms access, I don't want to have a dual boot or vm just so I can use access
it really doesn't require different programs, all the different elements are interrelated, it is incredibly helpful to do queries using several seemingly unrelated DB's as source
I wish I could do it on LO base, but even when it does work [OO] there is no way to reorder the databases
& for troubleshooting it does matter where things are
which leads to lots of starting from scratch
I can always transfer the data to a plain ol spreadsheet should at some point in the future LO gets a base developer back on board [or I want to migrate to MS access]
@ the moment
http://forum.kde.org/viewtopic.php?f=221&t=101345
this guy looks like he is motivated, kexi already works better than LO or OO base ever did, from the few tests I ran over the past couple of days
the real key concept is to keep each data point only one thing
for example the date should be 3 cells [y/m/d] not one, this makes using any specific element of the date in a query much more straight forward, certainly there are ways around this, a well designed & layout DB will make everything else much easier to design & troubleshoot down the road
all this can be done with spreadsheets, but the macros are harder to write & the db's aren't as easy to protect from errant keystrokes by users

[obgr_seneca]

home grown mrp
I had done a similar thing for a different project using ms access, I don't want to have a dual boot or vm just so I can use access
it really doesn't require different programs, all the different elements are interrelated, it is incredibly helpful to do queries using several seemingly unrelated DB's as source
I wish I could do it on LO base, but even when it does work [OO] there is no way to reorder the databases
& for troubleshooting it does matter where things are

Reorder a database?
Never done that, but I always use "real" databases (and no, MS ACCESS is no real database)
Just give an "ORDER BY" clause in the "SELECT" statement.

the real key concept is to keep each data point only one thing
for example the date should be 3 cells [y/m/d] not one, this makes using any specific element of the date in a query much more straight forward, certainly there are ways around this, a well designed & layout DB will make everything else much easier to design & troubleshoot down the road
all this can be done with spreadsheets, but the macros are harder to write & the db's aren't as easy to protect from errant keystrokes by users

And you can't use any of the builtin functions of the database working on date and time entries.
Let the database do, what the database can do and only do at application level, what the database can't do.
But as I happen to know, ACCESS is doing really strange things with dates, especially when using a non english localization...

Oliver

[doktor5000]

it really doesn't require different programs, all the different elements are interrelated, it is incredibly helpful to do queries using several seemingly unrelated DB's as source

Sounds confusing, you know what the purpose of relational databases is? That there are clear relations between databases, otherwise they would be quite useless.

[Garthhh]

home grown mrp
I had done a similar thing for a different project using ms access, I don't want to have a dual boot or vm just so I can use access
it really doesn't require different programs, all the different elements are interrelated, it is incredibly helpful to do queries using several seemingly unrelated DB's as source
I wish I could do it on LO base, but even when it does work [OO] there is no way to reorder the databases
& for troubleshooting it does matter where things are

Reorder a database?
Never done that, but I always use "real" databases (and no, MS ACCESS is no real database)
Just give an "ORDER BY" clause in the "SELECT" statement.

what I mean is say reorder the columns/rows, I mean their position on the DB itself, so sure one can make them sort all different ways, but not being able to go into design mode & fix the basic design, having a new element appear at the bottom,is an ongoing irritation for me
we can argue what a real database is, semantics
a google doc spreadsheet, will nearly do what I need, problem is, no stability or support, the G people may add a feature & break whatever I'm doing

the real key concept is to keep each data point only one thing
for example the date should be 3 cells [y/m/d] not one, this makes using any specific element of the date in a query much more straight forward, certainly there are ways around this, a well designed & layout DB will make everything else much easier to design & troubleshoot down the road
all this can be done with spreadsheets, but the macros are harder to write & the db's aren't as easy to protect from errant keystrokes by users

And you can't use any of the builtin functions of the database working on date and time entries.
Let the database do, what the database can do and only do at application level, what the database can't do.
But as I happen to know, ACCESS is doing really strange things with dates, especially when using a non english localization...

Oliver

dates, ok bad example, even if it is one that is easy to explain
the granularity of the data points is of utmost importance, for clarity/sanity, you can work around having cells jam packed with info, keeping it simple is the gift that keeps on giving

[doktor5000]

Please don't use fullquotes, they're unecessary and disturb the reading flow.