MS Access for scouting???

[Quentinfool]

Last year for scouting we used excel and that worked. I wanted to know if anyone tried using access and if that worked or not. it is microsofts default database program so it makes sense to use it for scouting. Let me know if u tried and if it works.

[Jack]

Originally posted by Quentinfool
Last year for scouting we used excel and that worked. I wanted to know if anyone tried using access and if that worked or not. it is microsofts default database program so it makes sense to use it for scouting. Let me know if u tried and if it works.

We used access last year. I will once again be making an access xp db that will also be complyent with uploading to www.feds201.com - Expect it to be ready sometime in late Feb. I'll upload it here on CD for all to use.

[Jeff Waegelin]

We used Access last year. It was a rather old version (95), but it was what we had, and it worked. All our alliance partners were impressed with the quality of our database. It wasn't that complex, but it worked well. Jack can elaborate if you have any questions (he wrote it), but it's pretty self-explanatory.

[Jeremy_Mc]

file maker would be ideal for scouting (you get it free this year in the kit). it's a a VERY easy to use database program that can export to numerous formats and it also runs on mac.

Just a suggestion tho

*jeremy

[Quentinfool]

file maker eh? hmmm ill have to take a look at it. is it wth the autodesk software?

[Yan Wang]

I emailed quentin and told him that I'd be posting up our Access database on Delphi's white pages sometime soon... not really necessary till competition starts. We used it in Canada; had pics of each robot, serach for teams, notes on teams, rankings, etc and it ended up being about 42mb. Obviously, a blank version shouldn't be more than a mb.

[Stephen Kowski]

We used Access 2...or was it 3 years ago...I don't remember but neways it works fine, but the issue with us is that we weren't able to make any ability for synchronization so it ended up being one person taking information off of a piece of paper and putting it into the Access database one at a time....ugh how tedious. Once we figured out to put things on handhelds and make many people able to gather information at the same time we were in business. So I guess my point is if you can't get multiple people putting information into the database at the same time get ready for some LONG nights at the nationals. Regionals weren't too bad because there are normally only 40 or so teams there, but wow were the nationals hard to deal with.

[Bduggan04]

Originally posted by Quentinfool
file maker eh? hmmm ill have to take a look at it. is it wth the autodesk software?

No, it shipped with the big blue book form MSC, the banner sensors, and the .NET software.

[Bduggan04]

Originally posted by Stephen Kowski
We used Access 2...or was it 3 years ago...I don't remember but neways it works fine, but the issue with us is that we weren't able to make any ability for synchronization so it ended up being one person taking information off of a piece of paper and putting it into the Access database one at a time....ugh how tedious. Once we figured out to put things on handhelds and make many people able to gather information at the same time we were in business. So I guess my point is if you can't get multiple people putting information into the database at the same time get ready for some LONG nights at the nationals. Regionals weren't too bad because there are normally only 40 or so teams there, but wow were the nationals hard to deal with.

Actually, with access you can use linked spreadsheets for data. If the spreadsheet is available to everyone through a network, everyone can add to it.

[Stephen Kowski]

thus my point of what to watch out for.

[Gabriel]

We had a filemaker database shared over a network last year, it worked great. It's much easier to use and much more intuitive than Access.

[Curtis Williams]

We have used access in the past and also had the problem with one person typing from tons of papers. However, It did work and took less than an hour to set up.

As for this year, we are toying with making a .net solution that uses SQL Server (MSDE, comes with vs.net) to store all the data. A windows application or maybe a web application for entry/query and a web service for sharing data with anyone wants it.

This may seem overkill but half of my day is spent in programming class.

[Brandon Martus]

Originally posted by Curtis Williams
... for sharing data with anyone wants it.

Check out the thread at the top of the scouting forum about a standard. It'll be easier to share info if more people use the standard.

[Quentinfool]

Filemake ris awesome... is there a way to share a database between 4 computers without needing to get licenses? I want a way to set it up so like one computer hosts/posts and other 3 modify data oin the databse too. anyone?

[soap108]

Originally posted by monsieurcoffee
I emailed quentin and told him that I'd be posting up our Access database on Delphi's white pages sometime soon... not really necessary till competition starts. We used it in Canada; had pics of each robot, serach for teams, notes on teams, rankings, etc and it ended up being about 42mb. Obviously, a blank version shouldn't be more than a mb.

I guess there were a lot of pictures.... Keep in mind the MS Access feature: Tools > Database Utilities > Compact and Repair database. This will purge much of the (often useless) hidden data kept around by access.

KA-108
www.soap108.com