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westclean
General User
Joined: 18 Apr 2012
Posts: 6
Location: United States
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 Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 6:22 am Post subject: Database for customers, sales, packing slips, and invoices |
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First time posting so excuse me if I do not know the proper etiquette. I have had a lot of success switching my business away from windows based products to OOo, but have hit a wall with Base. The free help online I have found is either too basic or doesn't really apply to what I want to do. So I will give this a shot.
I have been working on this for a while and been going nowhere lately. I want to create a database of customers, sales, packing slips, and invoices. I am planning on having a form for customers which is very straight forward, just entering customer information. The only other form would be for sales. In this one I want to be able to search for the customer that purchased it, enter date ordered, date shipped, whether they will be invoiced or paying by credit card, the products ordered, product size, and quantity.
Then generate a packing slip and invoice (if they did not pay by credit card).
I also want to graph sales vs. time.
Any help on this would be great or an example.
Thanks! |
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dacm
Super User
Joined: 07 Jan 2010
Posts: 734
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| Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 10:53 am Post subject: Re: Database for customers, sales, packing slips, and invoic |
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Welcome westclean, and thank you for a very clear and concise description of your design issues.
| westclean wrote: | | ...hit a wall with Base. |
Not uncommon. Databases can be challenging, and Base forces you into SQL much more quickly than MS Access. But on the bright side, if you find SQL easier than macro programming (and you absolutely will with Base), then it can ease or eliminate macros in many cases.
Base Forms and Controls (List Boxes, etc.) are powerful, but the wizards can be misleading for anything more than a simple data-entry Form.
Creating a Sales Order form with customer selection, date entries, product selections, product specifics, quantities, pricing, discounts, totals, billing methods, invoice reports, and graphing are all possible, but involve advanced design techniques. For instance, the customer lookup will (normally) require a dedicated FILTER table. The product selections will (normally) require a Table Control (grid) with List Box columns. The product specifics, will be particularly advanced as this requires filtering 'cascading' List Box selections based on the selected product (List Box). The rest is trivial once you understand SubForms in Base, except perhaps the graphing which will require Calc integration.
Here's some links:
[Example #1] Filter/Search with Forms (leveraging SubForms)
[Example] OpenForm with macros
How to access SubForm linking mechanisms
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Soli Deo gloria
Tutorial: avoiding data loss with Base + Migrating 'Embedded databases' |
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Villeroy
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Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Posts: 10065
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 4:22 am Post subject: |
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Why don't you simply get the relational SQL database of your choice, build up a valid database structure using the availlable mature tools for your database, connect Base to it and ask some concrete question about report and form design?
HSQLDB, H2, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MS SQL, Access and many others are databases which can be used with this office suite. No, Base as such is NOT a database.
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Billyray
OOo Enthusiast
Joined: 06 Mar 2007
Posts: 144
Location: Lake Erie's Shore in Ohio
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 11:27 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | I have had a lot of success switching my business away from windows based products to OOo, but have hit a wall with Base. |
How were you managing your database on Windows?
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Billyray
using:
Linux distro: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, Lucid Lynx, OOo Base 3.3, connected to MySql database using Java jdbc (note: ONLY sun-java-6-1.6.0_22 jre works right), and converted from MS Access 2003. |
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Villeroy
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Joined: 04 Oct 2004
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Location: Germany
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 1:51 am Post subject: |
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| Billyray wrote: | | Quote: | | I have had a lot of success switching my business away from windows based products to OOo, but have hit a wall with Base. |
How were you managing your database on Windows? |
Must have been MS Access. Otherwise he could not be that clueless.
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rgebap
Newbie
Joined: 28 Mar 2012
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:13 am Post subject: MS |
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| Well that was a little harse, but true. |
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Billyray
OOo Enthusiast
Joined: 06 Mar 2007
Posts: 144
Location: Lake Erie's Shore in Ohio
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 5:43 am Post subject: |
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| Villeroy wrote: | | Billyray wrote: | | Quote: | | I have had a lot of success switching my business away from windows based products to OOo, but have hit a wall with Base. |
How were you managing your database on Windows? |
Must have been MS Access. Otherwise he could not be that clueless. |
oooh! 
But seriously, A well developed database in Access would eliminate a lot of questions about Base. IOW, the database would already exist, along with all sorts of forms etc.
But the OP's questions make me think he doesn't have ANYTHING in use already, and that this is his first attempt.
Am I right westclean?
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Billyray
using:
Linux distro: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, Lucid Lynx, OOo Base 3.3, connected to MySql database using Java jdbc (note: ONLY sun-java-6-1.6.0_22 jre works right), and converted from MS Access 2003. |
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