[libreoffice-users] Re: database or spreadsheet

Am 06.02.2012 20:45, Dan Lewis wrote:
>   You obviously have a very in dept knowledges of database and can do
> many things with them that others can not do. But that does not mean
> others have to have a detailed knowledge of databases before they can
> create them. Not everyone has a need for a "fairly sophisticated
> database" to meet their needs.

No, I'm an entirely self-tought amateur. I know that I know almost 
nothing about databases. All I know is 100% of the Base features (while 
ignoring the report builder extension).
And yes, even a most simple database backend with one table requires 
knowledgable decisions on data types and that your single table surely 
describes the things to be stored.
You've got to know what the software tool expects you to do before you 
get anything back. At this point complete non-techies run in circles 
looking for the right trigger point where the software does the right 
thing for them. This is like holding the hammer and the nail close to 
the wall without hammering.
It is irrelevant how difficult it is to build up a database and its 
frontend tools. It's worth the effort if the result is easy enough for 
the next million records without further intervention.

But all this affects database design and Base input forms only. If you 
already have some relational database (or a csv file or a well formed 
spreadsheet list) then it is easy enough for anybody to connect a so 
called "Base document" with it, add some useful queries and reports in 
order to dump data into the layout and formatting capabilities of text 
and spreadsheet documents.
The data flow from the source into the documents is the main capability 
of the database capability. However, even the concept of a connection 
through an abstraction layer is beyond what todays users are able to 
digest, particularly when a ".odb Base document" comes into play. Many 
users seem to believe that the program converts their spreadsheet (or 
what else) into a database file format and that they can not edit their 
data anymore.
See recent thread "create mailmerge with spreadsheet librecalc without 
using libre base!". This misconception is very common and even some of 
the regular supporters on this list fail to put it straight.

"My users" never really have to struggle with that. When they complain 
about next serial letter's address pool, I dump and rearrange some data 
in a certain spreadsheet and add a query to the spreadsheet's connected 
database.  The query collects the right columns and rows in a certain 
order of columns and rows with certain well known column labels from the 
improvised spreadsheet list. Then I call them back and tell them to pick 
up query "Invitation_03_April" from data source "Mixed Addresses".
Meanwhile the letter has been written and two of "my users" are familiar 
with the data source window, the placeholder fields in a Writer template 
and they know how to print serial letters. But none of them can handle 
more than a screenful of spreadsheet without panic.


--
For unsubscribe instructions e-mail to: users+help@global.libreoffice.org
Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/
Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette
List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/
All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted