So I started learning all the basics of bulding and transferring data from databases. I decided to use Microsoft Access to build the database, because it's going to be pretty simple. In the program I am going to use DAO library, because that's the one that can read data from Microsoft Access files.
Following the advice of online tutorials, at first I figured out how exactly I wanted the database to work. I split the whole list of units into categories, in each category would be a 2d table, where I would paste the numbers, needed to convert from any unit to any other unit. Basically I would have the same list of units on the horizontal menu and the vertical menu. On their intersections I would put the numbers, by which I need to multiply the horizontal unit to get the vertical one.
I don't have access to any programming or database software right now, so I started just researching and going through tutorials on databases. I found a very good website with different units. Oh my god! I never thought there were so many different crazy units in the world and someone actually wrote them down! This is unbelievable! And that is only from one source! There are only 272 different units - that's just for length! How would I do that without a database?
Another thing is, the same unit in different areas is different. Like the US mile would be totally different from the Scottish mile and so on. At first I thought just to write the region in parenthesis, but then I had an idea, what if I could categorize the units not only by the measurement, but by the area, too. I'm not sure how I'm going to do that yet, I guess I'll figure it out when I get to actually building the database.
Anyways, I found out, that my program might not be as small as I thought, I have many ideas of updating it. I need to build the basics at first :)
1 comment:
Your writing is as if you are thinking out loud, which really gives me a sense of what your intentions are.
Perhaps start by building a very simple database as a test, and then you will have a better idea of the larger scheme.
In most engineering projects - and that is what you are doing - there will come a point where you will know you have started off wrong and must choose to wither abandon and start again or keep going with a solution more cumbersome than you should. Often starting again is best and in the long run the most efficient, but the harder choice to accept.
~Richard.
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