Datasheet
With these three tables in place, any type of customer (past, current, or
potential) can be entered into the database, and only the table or tables that
apply to that customer need be populated with data. When a potential cus-
tomer becomes a current one, relevant data can be entered into the appropri-
ate table(s). If a potential customer never buys, he or she can be deleted
when a prescribed length of time has elapsed, or perhaps a fourth table, with
archived customer records, can be set up. The options are limited only by
your needs and intended use of the data.
Failure to plan? Plan to fail
If you think carefully about your database and how you use your data and
what you need to know about your customers, products, or whatever you’re
storing information about, you can plan
How many tables you’ll need
Which data will go into which table
How you’ll use the tables together to get the reports you need
Feel free to sketch your planned database on paper, drawing a kind of flow
chart with boxes for each table and lists of fields that you’ll have in each one.
Draw arrows to show how they might be related — sort of like drawing a
simple family tree — and you’re well on your way to a well-planned, useful
database.
Here’s a handy procedure to follow if you’re new to the process of planning a
database:
1. On paper or in a word processing document, whichever is more com-
fortable, type the following:
• A tentative name for your database
• A list of the pieces of information you get from that database on a
daily or regular basis
2. Now, based on that information, create a new list of the actual details
you could store:
List every piece of information you can possibly think of about the cus-
tomers, products, ideas, cases, books, works of art, students — whatever
your database pertains to. Don’t be afraid to go overboard — you can
always skip some of the items in the list if they don’t end up being things
you really need to know or can possibly find out about each item in your
database.
3. Take the list of fields — that’s what all those pieces of information
are — and start breaking them up into logical groups.
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Part I: Basic Training
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