Posted by Jeff Cinelli on March 24, 2010 at 15:39:16:
In Reply to: Re: DbMgr design posted by Barbara Brazil on March 23, 2010 at 16:47:38:
Hi Barb. I've long wanted to use DBMGR, but have always come across one thing or another that's held me back from doing everything I would like to do. I think no matter what you do, there will always be different opinions on the design & layout, so you do the best you can, and go from there.
I agree edit masks typically would be determined on a report layout, but i like having a 'default' in the database layout. Perhaps at the type of a report design, a dropdown list with some common edit masks could be chosen, allowing for an override. But I like the idea of using that same drop down list or customizing one to be used as a default in the database definition. I think that would speed up the report creation process for users.
I like the idea of defining as much information as possible in the database layout. We can decide what we do or don't want to use, but having the fields available is very helpful. I would really like to see the DBMgr database be a completely self sufficient resource, not only for reporting, but for definition and utility purposes. It would be nice to have a field to enter a 30-50 character description of the field, so when building an include file from the database, this would be included. References to fields used in an extended keyed file are helpful as well. A user defined field would be great as well. I would use this to identify this field or group of fields in an IB program that could be used for such things such as determining which users have rights to edit this field in a maintenance program for example. Just having the field available is helpful.
I'm sure there are those that would argue that these fields should not be defined in the file, and I can understand that. However, since disk space is no longer a consideration, and giving developers the flexibility to utilize this database to its full potential is important, then why not include a reasonable amount of additional optional fields, such as edit mask, description, external link, extended key information, etc. I'd love to have something that I can truly utilize.
The layout looks very good, and if the columns are sortable by clicking on the title, even better. I think as we start to use it, other ideas may come up, but I think you're on to something really good here.
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