DonationCoder.com Software > Clipboard Help+Spell
Programming Question...
mouser:
its not a bad idea -
adding and deleting columns is not so hard though its a bit tricky to get it to work cleanly.
but yeah i could make a minimalist single pane viewed db tool which lets you custom add the columns you want,
and import/export to excel..
not a bad idea - really minimal db editor..
let user create/delete columns, fill in data, import+export.. search, filter.
mouser:
the real question is whether there isnt already nice tools for this..
kfitting:
Yeah... I've looked for some and havent found any. Everyone seems to want full featured bloat (bloat relative to what I'm describing). I don't know if I could use it at work due to government liscencing stuff, but I've often wanted something for keeping track of stuff around the house, keeping a list of pictures (yes I know there are programs for this!), etc. But, I don't want to have to code to get it working. It would be kind of cool to be able to write scripts for it, but that is NOT necessary.
The only other feature I can think of other than what you just mentioned would be custom views, stored in the database file (so if you opened it up on another machine someone else could have the same views). Each view could have a certain configuration of columns in it. Forget forms, the way you have CHS allow you to group based on a certain column is incredible.
Even scripting, if you could make it easy for AutoIt or AutoHotkey to grab info from the window (window control names, table handles, <I don't really know what I'm talking about here!>, etc) would allow scripting without a whole lot of work on your part.
The only other thing, and I don't know a thing about databases, is that you should be able to edit a record like you edit a cell in Excel. I personally think it's annoying to have to go to another textbox to fill in the data for a cell. Maybe this isn't possible, I don't know how databases work. I think you have it set up fine in CHS, since it's function is just to display pertinent data, not change it. But for a program like this, it would be cool.
Give it a thought... if not, that's fine.
Kevin
mouser:
its easy to make the data editable all from the grid.
scripting is probably quite a bit more work depending on what kind of information you want to make accessible. if you elaborated on the kinds of scripts you might want to use it would help answer that.
your request that everything be in one file might be problematic - though you could get around it with a virtual file type system.
by far the easiest thing would simply be to change from saying a single file to a signle directory.
so your Wires database
would be
Wires\
and in that you would have database files, preset views, etc.
you could add functions for ziping and unziping if you really wanted to hold the users hand.
but relaxing the demand for a single file and make it a single directory would make everything easier.
kfitting:
Ok, point taken on the single files bit. I think it would be better to hold the users hand on this one... only because our CM (configuration management) process doesn't make it real easy to keep multiple files together on check-in/check-out. It would be much easier to just have one file for the user to manage. But, multiple files would still work!
Scripting. Let me give you the example that I feel is the most involved. First some background: in our flight simulator (the aircraft is the MH-60R for you aviation fans) we need to keep track of every wire along with various information (wire type, size, length, starting point, ending point, etc). There are quite a few wires that connect to other wires and at times it's EXTREMELY handy to be able to enter in a node and find a trace of every wire along a route. I.e. from a power supply to a specific light bulb in the cockpit. Ok, don't lose me here, I know as an engineer I tend to get lost in details! One of my coworkers wrote an excel vba script that, given any node, traces it back both ways to its end points (if you start at the beginning, it only goes one way, obviously). This script saves valuable time when troubleshooting, especially when your wirelist is 40,000 lines plus.
Basically, it would be awesome to be able to interact with the data in that level of detail. To be able to step through the table, make comparisons, keep a log in the background... That's why if you could make the table accessible to AutoIt the problem would be solved. I don't think it's worth writing your own scripting into the program, but making external hooks would be nice. That way people could use the program to store the data, sort it, search it, but if they came up with some kooky odd-ball "requirement" they could add it on their own.
I know, I know, you're saying "why not just use a database." Well, the biggest reason is none of our team has experience programming databases. All we need is something light and fast to store lots of lines in and be able to write scripts to pull certain data out. Database setup is too much work! especially mid-project) Excel works fine except we have 40,000 lines and another 20,000+ waiting to be added! Excel runs out of space and also becomes rather clunky. But, having seen the power and awesome sort/grouping/filter capabilities of CHS, I think a minimalist database would be just the thing. Also, like I said, I would love to have it for home use... keeping track of cd's, books, whatever. Yes, I could use a database and spend umpteen hours coding each database I want to keep. Yes, I could use one of the freeware solutions that do everything and the kitchen sink (all this in rather clunky interfaces with childish icons).
But, having said all that I don't want to take up your time... especially since you're working on CHS and all it's goodies. Plus, I realize that maybe this is a specialty app... but, oh how long I've looked for something like this! If you could do it, I'd be absolutely thrilled.
Kevin
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