Calantha Posted August 16, 2005 Share Posted August 16, 2005 Hello, I'm new to the world of databases and I was recently given the task to merge multiple databases into one new major database, learning as I go... Having begun to do this I have come across a few questions... How are databases generally used? What is the better, more rational layout? For example, I work for a school... our current databases include Inquiries, Enrollments and Graduates. The idea is to move all of that data into one giant database... Is this the right idea, or is it more organized and logical to keep it in different databases? How are databases generally implemented? Secondly, our database is currently running on a server. This of course means that there is one point of error, ie. if the database goes down, it goes down and is only as good as the last weekly backup. For example, last week I had a power outtage which ended up damaging my database file. After using the recovery program it was easier for me to go back to my last personal backup which lost me four hours of work. The frequent backups to my computer save me, but when you have multiple people accessing the database and the adding data you would run into issues of perhaps just having multiple personal backups which would have to be merged back into the new database anyway. How is database sharing usually done? Is it one person in charge of adding data and others are allowed merely to access it? How do you set up a system where you have multiple users? I would greatly appreciate any information you could provide me. Thank you, Calantha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VICH Posted August 16, 2005 Share Posted August 16, 2005 filemaker is very felxible there are several ways to implement your solution but its all really personal choice. as far as access goes you can set privilages so that everyone can access and edit or only you and everyone else is view only, i was kinda given the same situation a couple weeks ago myself i was thrown into this but in time and experimentation it starts to come to and the things that seemed so hard are suddenly a breeze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Posted August 16, 2005 Share Posted August 16, 2005 How are databases generally used? What is the better, more rational layout? For example, I work for a school... our current databases include Inquiries, Enrollments and Graduates. The idea is to move all of that data into one giant database... Is this the right idea, or is it more organized and logical to keep it in different databases? How are databases generally implemented? Since you're using FMP v6, you will generally still keep all of the separate entities in separate files. You would use relationships to link the appropriate records in different files using key fields. In v7, it is possible (but not required) that you put multiple entities (tables) into one file, and link them with relationships. There are many reasons for combining tables and for keeping them separate, but if you're using v6, they'll all be separate. Secondly, our database is currently running on a server. This of course means that there is one point of error, ie. if the database goes down, it goes down and is only as good as the last weekly backup. For example, last week I had a power outtage which ended up damaging my database file. After using the recovery program it was easier for me to go back to my last personal backup which lost me four hours of work. The frequent backups to my computer save me, but when you have multiple people accessing the database and the adding data you would run into issues of perhaps just having multiple personal backups which would have to be merged back into the new database anyway. Are you using a file server or a database server? (i.e. filemaker server 5.5) It is not a good idea to access a filemaker database using standard OS filesharing. Then there's no good way to control multiple user access and it invites data corruption. If you use filemaker peer to peer sharing or filemaker server, the host will control record locking and multi-user access, and you would use groups and passwords to control who can do what. If you use filemaker server, the server can make live backups of the databases while users have them open, and the backups can be as frequent as you want, with different schedules for different tables (files). If you use FMP peer to peer sharing, you have to disconnect all the clients before backing up, and you have to do it manually. How is database sharing usually done? Is it one person in charge of adding data and others are allowed merely to access it? How do you set up a system where you have multiple users? Let me know if you need more details or if you need to know how to set this up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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