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Gathering Information
Database design can be enormously gratifying, particularly in its initial creative stages. As a developer, you can be equal parts designer and detective. You get to see information both globally and very specifically, as you speak to individual users and examine broad strategic issues. The decisions you make in structuring data can make an organization more efficient, its staff more comfortable and less frustrated in their work, and in some magical instances, can even lead to tangible business breakthroughs.Of course, database developers don't always have the luxury of a clean slate. Every living database branches, grows, and can end up in desperate need of pruningor even uprooting and replacing. Whether you're starting a database from scratch or retrofitting an existing one, the life expectancy of your database will be longer if it begins with careful and logical planning, based on solid research and discovery.Before you begin to create fields and files, you should know:The goal of the database.
Why is it needed or what problems will it solve? Here's where logic and common sense are most important. You want to create a database structure that provides not only a solution to the immediate problem, but also some room for growth. If there's already some form of database in place, examine how it began and developed. The history of an organization and its data can often provide clues to what the organization's future needs will be.The people who will use the database.
Unless this database is your personal project, others will need to work with the information. What do they want to be able to do with the files? If there's an existing system in place, you should ask people what they would like to change to avoid perpetuating existing problems. Observe users as they work with the data as well. Sometimes people are unaware of how many unnecessary steps they perform, simply because they're so used to the old system that its shortcomings are not apparent to them. Your job is not only to organize data, but to make that data easy to read and access.What information is important.
By using your own knowledge and/or interviewing the users, you should develop a list of required information categories. Within those categories, you will want to create a list of information specifics.How your database will relate to other office systems.
Although some databases remain specialized islands, an organization's database is more likely to relate to several functions and business activities. Will users need to fax or email database information? Will the data be accessible over the Internet? Will the finance department want to use information from sales and marketing?
By examining all the facts and artifacts that show how information moves through the real world, you eventually develop a good concept of what your database will cover and how it will be structured.Many databases are a replacement for existing systems. Functioning systems always depend on forms, records, and flat files, and so can you. Sometimes the only failing of the current system is that it's not computerized. If so, you can and should ground your structure firmly on a method that people already know. Base your initial categories and field headings on the existing format, then expand by looking for data that isn't yet being captured or presented successfully. For example, an organization may already track sales by individual but not by region. Capturing this information would enable them to have a better sense of the effectiveness of their sales force and their regional sales management.Even if you're starting from scratch because the organization is new or this is the first attempt at capturing the information, you're probably not really breaking new ground. Others have likely created similar databases before. Ask around to discover what methods are being used in organizations similar to your own. One great source for templates or inspiration is the various sample files available at several FileMaker Internet sites. See Appendix B, "FileMaker Resources" for specific URLs.
