B
Bruce
I have recently purchased a book ("Using Microsoft Access
2000" by Roger Jennings), and have begun studying it, but
it is a big book, and if possible I would like to get
something on track fairly soon.
We are currenlty using an assortment of spreadsheets,
documents, logs, etc. to keep track of various employee
information such as training. Data entry is very
redundant, and I would like to begin using a realtional
database instead.
One of the first things I need to keep track of is
training. This is a production facility, and training
sessions can be for two days or they can be just 15
minutes long. They can occur rather frequently (perhaps
60 sessions per year), especially for new employees.
(Please accept that this is the case. We have numerous
standards, including federal, industry, and customer to
which we must comply.)
My idea is that there will be an employee table (Employee,
Department, Licenses, etc.) and a training session table,
but there is something missing from my thinking. If I
was, for instance, a mechanic needing to keep track of
cars, I would have an owner table and a car table, and
OwnerID would be the PK in one and the FK in the other.
Then, with a form/subform arrangement, I could enter owner
information on the main form and any number of cars on the
subform.
In my case each employee will have multiple training
sessions, and most training sessions will have multiple
participants. If I use form/subform to enter data, if
Employee is the main form and Training is the sub-form
then I can enter training for only that employee. This
sort of arrangement will be helpful when it is time to
review that employee's training for the year, but is not
helpful for data entry. If Training is the main form,
what do I use as the FK in the employee table? It doesn't
seem right to add a field to the Employee table for each
new type of training. Eventually this database will be
used to keep track of monthly evaluations, annual reviews,
etc. The common table for all of it will be the Employee
table.
I want to be able to enter the description of the
training, then to select the employees who attended. I
will have one training session and many employees, so if
training session ID in the Training table is the PK, where
is the FK if I don't add it directly to the Employee
table? I seem to need another table or maybe a query, in
which I would have Employee ID and Session ID, but I just
can't seem to get my mind around this problem.
I expect that I will eventually experience some sort of
epiphany with all of this. Can anybody help speed the
arrival of that event?
2000" by Roger Jennings), and have begun studying it, but
it is a big book, and if possible I would like to get
something on track fairly soon.
We are currenlty using an assortment of spreadsheets,
documents, logs, etc. to keep track of various employee
information such as training. Data entry is very
redundant, and I would like to begin using a realtional
database instead.
One of the first things I need to keep track of is
training. This is a production facility, and training
sessions can be for two days or they can be just 15
minutes long. They can occur rather frequently (perhaps
60 sessions per year), especially for new employees.
(Please accept that this is the case. We have numerous
standards, including federal, industry, and customer to
which we must comply.)
My idea is that there will be an employee table (Employee,
Department, Licenses, etc.) and a training session table,
but there is something missing from my thinking. If I
was, for instance, a mechanic needing to keep track of
cars, I would have an owner table and a car table, and
OwnerID would be the PK in one and the FK in the other.
Then, with a form/subform arrangement, I could enter owner
information on the main form and any number of cars on the
subform.
In my case each employee will have multiple training
sessions, and most training sessions will have multiple
participants. If I use form/subform to enter data, if
Employee is the main form and Training is the sub-form
then I can enter training for only that employee. This
sort of arrangement will be helpful when it is time to
review that employee's training for the year, but is not
helpful for data entry. If Training is the main form,
what do I use as the FK in the employee table? It doesn't
seem right to add a field to the Employee table for each
new type of training. Eventually this database will be
used to keep track of monthly evaluations, annual reviews,
etc. The common table for all of it will be the Employee
table.
I want to be able to enter the description of the
training, then to select the employees who attended. I
will have one training session and many employees, so if
training session ID in the Training table is the PK, where
is the FK if I don't add it directly to the Employee
table? I seem to need another table or maybe a query, in
which I would have Employee ID and Session ID, but I just
can't seem to get my mind around this problem.
I expect that I will eventually experience some sort of
epiphany with all of this. Can anybody help speed the
arrival of that event?