System information

Exercise 3: Designing the database for your application 43
Exercise 2: Determining the data requirements
Prior to creating the application pages to capture trip information, you must determine what type
of data is required about each trip. For the example in this tutorial, the Compass Travel trip
coordinator must maintain the following information about each trip:
• Tr i p n a m e
• Type of event (surfing, mountain climbing, kayaking, and so on)
• Trip description
• Trip location
• Departure date
• Return date
• Price
• Base cost
• Assigned trip leader
• Total number of people who can attend the trip
• An indicator of whether a deposit is required
• Trip photograph
By collecting the preceding information about each trip, the Compass Travel website can market
its trips online to the general public. Customers who are booking a trip need to know the trip
name, when the trip begins and ends, the price, and a description. Additionally, the trip
coordinator must identify the filename for a photograph of each trip. The Compass Travel
website displays the photograph to further entice prospective customers into booking the trip.
Finally, Compass Travel considers it important to store the base cost for each trip to help
determine trip profitability. The cost must be captured, but it is for Compass Travel internal use
only and is not shown on the public website.
Exercise 3: Designing the database for your application
After you identify the information to collect, you must consider where to store the data. Prior to
creating the data collection form and instructing ColdFusion where to store the form data, you
must have a database ready to accept the data.