From: Hilary Bailey <my77elephants@...>
Date: 2011-02-11T09:51:48+09:00
Subject: Re: Choosing an office suite

Sam Duncan wrote in post #980397:
Sam, I think you are correct in your assessment. In terms of the 
database, should I indulge in LibreOffice Base or use Sqlite/SQL? After 
such decision,is it possible to add components from PSPP and LibreOffice 
spreadsheet plus others, to create a software? In other words, just like 
making a car, where we add different parts to create a product, can the 
same logic be used to create a software.

The first thing I would do for something like this (taking the pragmatic
> approach), is design your information schema. You need to design (not
> code) your schema such that it provides the kind of analysis you are
> after with the least amount of work. It also needs to be flexible in the
> sense that you will inevitably want to start storing new kinds of
> information, and analysing the data you have in new ways. The data is,
> after all, the basis and purpose of your application.
>
> Whatever you decide to do it in, and I am guessing you will end up with
> a conventional relational and hopefully free database, you can assume
> that it will be comprised of tables. Tables will contain fields. The
> tables and their fields will represent some encapsulation of an entity.
> The tables, and the fields therein, will have relationships with other
> tables and their fields which will provide you with the basis for your
> analysis and reporting.
>
> If you are looking to roll your sleeves up and actually get started, do
> so at the data end. In that scope the collection, presentation, and
> reporting layers are largely irrelevant, that is to say; your data store
> shouldn't really care what is accessing it. Avoid the IDE and framework
> religious wars, don't bother with logos and About Us pages. Dive into
> your data store schema with a pencil and a notepad today. Anybody here
> who has used a database of some kind (and there appear to be plenty),
> will be able to help you turn your sketch into a real implementable
> schema. Of course, you will inevitably have to wade through ever more
> esoteric hooha about the specifics of that implementation ;]
>
> Pretty much I'm saying that I'm not a rocket scientist, and if I wanted
> to build a rocket, I would intuitively start with determining how I
> would power it.
>
> Sam

-- 
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.