Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with database

Free/cheap property ownership search for New York City

cloudscratcher — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:18:09 -0800

Looking for free or cheap property ownership data for co-op/condo units in Manhattan. General question has been asked before but doesn't yield what I'm looking for here. I am looking to find the name of the owner of a specific condo unit in Manhattan. I assume that this is public data (and don't want it if it's not) -- I just can't figure out how to get to it.

How do I set up a simple database for vocabulary terms?

washburn — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:07:02 -0800

How do I make a database of vocabulary terms and definitions to use for teaching? What software, settings, etc. should I use? I teach college level courses in the humanities, and my students are often responsible for learning a range of terms and definitions.

So, I'd like to compile a database of terms and their corresponding definitions. This database could then, theoretically, be used in generating quizzes, exams, and review sheets that I could give to my students. What would be the best software and procedures to accomplish this?

Is Microsoft Access the way to go? If so, as one who hasn't used Access before, where can I find a quick tutorial to help me learn how to best set up this type of simple database up and occasionally import some of its contents to Word?

A few considerations:

*I use Microsoft Word 2003. Items should be easy to import into Word and be saved as part of exams that include other non-vocab related sections.

*A feature of lesser importance (but still nice) would be an ability to tag terms, to indicate what sorts of subject matter they relate to.

*I'm not a programmer, so the simpler the better.

Thanks for any advice.

Help me recover a deleted MySQL database on osx

special-k — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:19:16 -0800

Where does MySQL store actual data in Snow Leopard? How would I retrieve a deleted database from a Time Machine backup? MySQL was crashing repeatedly on my Snow Leopard. On the advice of an Apple genius, I nuked the existing install and all its associated directories. I didn't worry much because I do database stuff on my work computer and only keep copies on my laptop.

Turns out that there was one particular database [now nuked] that I spent a whole week cleaning up on my laptop. The desktop only has a really old version of this particular database.

I have regular time machine backups. How do I pluck this database out and restore it?
I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get to the data without going through mysql. Someone suggested looking in /usr/local/mysql/data

I can get to the mysql directory but have no permission to enter the data directory. I could recreate much of this work but it will take forever and I'd rather not. Can someone help?

MSAccessFilter: How do I create a printable report in MS access, with a click-through interface to choose my data?

Seeba — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 06:26:47 -0800

MSAccessFilter: How do I create a printable report in MS access, with a click-through interface to choose my data? Good morning,
At the office, we're using an access database that everyone is afraid to touch, but at the same time, it's not quite doing what we want it to do:

I want to take information from two or three tables (the information's all linked together), then print a summary of the day's activity (one of the fields in one of my tables is a value for the date).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Can I set up a form so that all my coworkers have to do is click "create report", then it'll give them another form with a calendar to click on, maybe a drop down box of another variable or two, click "create", and a report come out that I can print/save/distribute?

(Apologies if this is basic-- my google-fu has failed me, and I think it's because I'm not phrasing any of this correctly-- this strikes me as something that should be relatively easy to set up, though probably time consuming)

Is there a cheap digital archive solution for a non-profit?

Magnakai — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:37:36 -0800

What's a good system for a non-profit to set-up and manage a digital archive of somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 text, pictures, sound and video items? It needs to be accessible by multiple people at the same time and be easily searchable. So basically I sometimes work for a neat little non-profit cultural organisation that has its roots in a relatively unique historical building. That building is approaching it's centenary, and we've got a teeny bit of funding to do some heritage work. Part of this work is making an archive of materials related to the history of our institution. This would be overseen by the heritage officer, who is a smart cookie but not super au-fait with complicated IT stuff. Information would be input by her and a team of volunteers. We have pretty much no money and we don't want it to be high-maintenance, as it's mostly an internal archive.

The heritage officer has asked me, as the defacto computer person, to look into how we should do this. We could get a very cheap copy of Access through CTXchange and use that, but I'm hesitant to wrap up what's meant to be a long-term archive in proprietary technology. I also have no idea how to get started with it, and it seems very unfriendly at first poke.

My first thought was to create an SQL/XML/something else open database and somehow convince someone to write an HTML/PHP front end. That would let multiple people connect to the site and input data at once. We could then plug in some sort of search program to do comprehensive searches. The main problem I have is that editing fields seems inaccessible for the heritage officer and her volunteers. I'd also want the locations of the media to be linked from the front-end, and pictures to be embedded and visible.

Right now we've got four PCs hooked into a Windows 2008 server. I'm supremely unsure about what to do from here. Options would be to do an IIS server and host a database on the server, or just have it on our file server portion of the 2008 server.

Any ideas would be welcome, especially something pre-built!

The FibuLA is LAteral

devnull — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:09:56 -0800

Is there a general mnemonics database somewhere? Coming up with a good mnemonic is a lot of work, and some are just terrible (e.g. "rese nese mr mn" for German)

I came across the Medical Menemonics website today while searching for an answer to my question. It's great - the mnemonics seem high quality but there's one problem: I'm not a medical student, I want something more general.

Does anyone know of a general purpose mnemonics database?

Also, what strategies do you find useful for memorising sets of similar words which are not verbs or nouns? (der die das, den die das... etc as an example)

MS Access - Limit to # of shared users

cg1 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:04:10 -0800

Is there a limit to the # of users who can share a Microsoft Access database across a network? I've been working in Filemaker for so long that it's been a while since I designed in Access. I'm now working for a public school that has no money, but all its machines have Access. The school *really* needs a database, so I'm considering building one using expertise from my previous life in the business world.

Several questions:

- Assuming all 100 teachers in our school has Access on the PC in their classroom, could all 100 access the same Access database simultaneously without problems? I know that Filemaker has a user limit of 250, but that requires Filemaker Server (a separate / more expensive software) be installed on at least the server itself. Does Access have similar limitations?

- Does Access support a web-based module, that teachers not in the building / not on the school network could access? If so, is it worth a damn?

- Is Access easier to design in now than it was years ago (when I switched to Filemaker and was thrilled how much simpler it was)?

Thanks in advance for any help,
Wade

I'm sick of all these spreadsheets

mammary16 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:37:40 -0800

Overloaded with spreadsheets! Looking for an online database program that has bug-tracking features. Right now I've been charged with converting some printed ESL books to an online courseware format. We have a team in the Philippines do the actual implementation of the content; what I do is map out each book in a spreadsheet, make suggestions to the team on how to implement each activity, and send it on to them. They then implement the activities, making comments in the spreadsheet and emailing it back to me. I then QA their work, and send them updated spreadsheets with lists of items for them to return to.

It's getting to the point now where all these spreadsheets are getting incredibly unwieldy. In the past I've used Quickbase with other companies for this purpose, but I'm wondering if there is a cheaper alternative.

Basically, I'm looking for an online database that has bug-tracking features. I would like the ability to easily make hundreds of entries (with specific information entered, i.e., "Number" "Activity Type" "Notes from Client", etc.) that the team can look at, use as the basis for their work, and make comments on once they've completed each item. They would then mark each item as "completed" "have a question", etc., and I can look in on each one and either reopen it if it has problems or mark it as "Approved by client".

More importantly, I need to be able to mark items with different tags, so that I can return to some of them later. Additionally, we would be opening up many projects, and the ability to query the data would be necessary (like Quickbase offers).

I looked at Sifter and realized that it wouldn't fit my needs because I couldn't easily enter records quickly. Can anyone recommend something that would fit my needs? Again, Quickbase seems like the right sort of thing, but the ~300 / month payment plan is too much for our startup.

If I've been unclear about what I'm looking for, let me know, I can comment with more specific information.

Thanks!

designing Filemaker for web publishing.

lalex — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:22:51 -0800

Please point me to a comprehensive resource of designing databases to be published with Filemaker Instant Web Publishing. Please point me to a comprehensive resource of designing databases to be published with Filemaker Server/Instant Web Publishing.

My google skills are failing me and I can only find scattered bits and pieces mentioning differences in treatments of scripts, global fields, script triggers on layouts/fields, etc., and effective workarounds. Is there a comprehensive resource that will help me design a database that will be accessed remotely? Preferably online, but books are good too. Thanks!

Simple database app for text files?

mjklin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:57:40 -0800

Is there any simple database that can operate "over" raw text files? I have my ideas scattered in lots of text files on a Windows Vista machine. What I'm looking for is an application that will operate "over" them to bring some order - mostly, tag them in some intuitive way. Lots of programs I've tried come close:

Wikidpad works with raw text files (with the extension .wiki), but it's cumbersome and its tagging is not quite good enough.

Total Commander has a function that tags files and makes them searchable, but they are not apparent in a tag cloud.

CintaNotes would be perfect if it could operate over text files like Wikidpad, or even if it could import text files, but it only works with XML data.

I'm hoping somebody knows of a lightweight CintaNotes-like app that meets these requirements. It wouldn't necessarily have to read the contents of the files as long as it could tag them in a pretty way. Oh yeah, it should operate just within a certain directory (which rules out whole-computer tagging apps like Tag2Find).

Cheers me dears.

What exactly am I learning and how can I use it for fun and profit?

doift — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:11:00 -0800

I work in a major US art museum, helping to manage the database that is used to keep track of the art, exhibitions, etc. In the context of this job, I have developed, quite unintentionally, a decent working knowledge of Crystal Reports and a little bit of experience with SQL queries. Other than this museum-specific experience, I know little about the world of databases. What other jobs could I do building on these skills, what else would I need to learn to do those jobs, and how should I go about learning it? The database software that we use is TMS, which is probably the most common software used by larger museums. I got into this particular job the way most folks do, by doing a lot of data entry at various museums and becoming a relatively advanced user, and stumbling into a job helping to manage the database and train other staff how to use it. Now I want out of the museum database world for a variety of reasons. The thing I like best about my job is the little data cleanup projects that make it easier for users to search for things- taking a hodgepodge of information and making it consistent is pretty satisfying.

So, educate me about the wide world of databases and the job outlook therein. I don't have a huge interest or aptitude in hardcore tech and programming, but I wouldn't mind moving in that direction to some degree.

Need recs for IT training in Seattle.

valannc — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:35:39 -0800

In the Seattle/Snohomish area. Which schools provide good training in beginning SQL, or database design, or IT project management? Needs:
- School should be well-regarded by hiring managers and look good on my resume
- Training should be rigorous. Prefer a fast-paced class.
- Location: North or central Seattle are good. Or Everett/Lynnwood area. I live in Shoreline/Edmonds.
- Hoping to start training asap. I am unemployed and have time to study. Don't want to wait until Winter semester.

Here is a listing of Seattle computer training schools. Which ones have a good rep and do a good job?

Getting to Yes^W 3NF

alex.dudley — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:24:58 -0800

Need help getting to 3NF when one attribute is functionally dependent on a combination of other attributes. I am having problems working out how to get the following situation (or similar ones) into 3NF. I know that in production we would probably not want this to get to 3NF because of the performance hit from JOINs; please ignore such things, this is theoretical.

The situation I'm struggling with is one where an attribute is transitively dependent through a combination of other attributes in the same table, and how to split that out into 3NF.

How do you get to 3NF in a situation like the following:



RoadTrip (tripID, startLocation, finishLocation, distanceDriven)

Details:
tripID is an autonumber/surrogate key
distanceDriven is dependent on both startLocation and finishLocation, because the distanceDriven is the distance between these two locations.

I have mulled this over in my head and tried to figure it out, I suspect my solution is wrong:



RoadTrip (tripID, startLocation, routeID)

FK: routeID references TripRoute.routeID

TripRoute (routeID, finishLocation, miles)

Is that really how to get this into 3NF?

I can't find any good examples of this sort of normalization situation through Google; the examples I see don't have any cases of finctional dependency on a combination of attributes.

The Hive Mind is all that's left. Please hope me normalize!

Setting Up Filemaker Databases on an External Hosting Site

lifeofthunder — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:59:16 -0800

Filemaker Filter. I need help publishing a database to a leased server- preferably in the way that my boss can access it on his iPhone. My boss wants to access and modify his client list from his iPhone- and it's all in a Filemaker 10 database. He's got basic website hosting at Hostway (which inconveniently enough is the most difficult hosting interface in the world), and he wants to use that plan as a jumping off point for this entire process.

We've got a copy of Filemaker Server 10 (as well as FM10 Advanced, of course), but it appears to be all about Web Publishing locally to an Apache server- can't this all just get hosted simply online? Is there a SQL solution?

Thanks, as always, are in advance.

Using Base & numbering

Salmonberry — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:10:29 -0800

Auto-generated numbers using Open Office base. Can it pick up where I left off? Hi there. I'm trying to create a simple database for storing purchase orders. Right now everything is done in Excel and information has to be re-input in 4 different spreadsheets. So I am attempting to build something I can use.

Currently we're up to PO number 1525. Ideally I'd like to have Base start with order number 1526 & keep going from there. Is that possible? And I'd like that PO number to be the primary key to avoid dupes. Is that also possible? I've looked high and low and can't get it to auto-generate without getting errors when adding a new record.

Thanks!

Where can I find a database of cookbook indexes?

chefscotticus — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:13:28 -0800

Where can I find a database of cookbook indexes? Is there a website that contains a recipe directory for printed cookbooks?

I own lots of cookbooks. It's annoying to have to look through each individiual index, however, when I'm looking for a recipe for a common dish. Is there a website, or other service, that has a searchable collection of what recipes can be found in what cookbooks? (Note, I'm not looking for the recipes themselves, but instead a collective, searchable index.)

NOTE: I posed this question to the internet two years ago and didn't get any responses. Now, with my recent discovery of the AMAZING Delicious Library media cataloging tool, I'm inspired to find a new solution. Bonus if it can plug-in with my Delicious Library catalog of cookbooks. (Fat chance, I know...)

Any suitable science research-based organization software (mac)?

jbreyfogle — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:14:26 -0800

I am doing research in a Hematology/Oncology genetics lab and I am looking for computer software that can organize my research data (e.g., new project, dates and findings, results, task management) and was created for scientific purposes. I have a macbook (black), OSX10.6, 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB ram. I am looking for one that is free or inexpensive (under $150). Any help? Thanks.

Point me to the web...

gjc — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:48:24 -0800

Are there any Access-like tools for building data access pages in a web+sql format? Here's the thing. I have a few databases that I've done up in Access. That's great for when I have my computer.

But my needs are becoming such that I would like to have access to the data on any machine.

(I've searched the archives and saw a great many other answers, but none seemed to address what I'm looking for, or at least in a way I understood.)

I'm good on the server and the web space and the backend. What I'm looking for is basically something that works like Access's form builder: I drop the elements in and fill in the logic as need be. Publish it to the server, and disco.

I really don't want to run a "product" (like a CMS, or a knowledgebase, or forum software) where I'd have to wrestle with it to get it to do what I want. I would also prefer something that doesn't require oddball things to be installed on the client or on the server, like .net or frontpage extensions.

Partially because I don't really know what I'm doing (and that's OK, it's just for personal use/learning), and partially because that's just how my thought processes work- I like the idea of dropping pre-built elements in and making the connections work. And because the idea of writing html for a bunch of buttons and text boxes seems daunting.

I've tried all manner of searching, and while I know such a tool *has* to exist, I'm clearly not searching the right way.

Extra points for fancy ajaxy web 2.0 coolness. Thanks!

Online event listings, what are the good ones?

Brandon Blatcher — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:01:23 -0800

Please show me the most informative and useful online event listings you use. Want to revamp the event listings for the company, make them really informative and useful to the end user. To that end I'm looking around at other listings to see how others manage and present the data for users.

So what event site do you find really useful in terms of clearly presenting information about what's going on not only today, but in the future?

A database for the masses

nayrb5 — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:28:14 -0800

What should I use to create a database that specific people can access and contribute to remotely? I'm working with an intern to create a database to track education / training for employees across my agency. We have multiple sites and about sixty or so staff members.

My initial plan was to use Access, but I'm not sure how to create an Access database that multiple people would be able to modify and access. Neither I nor the intern have much experience in Access, but it seems easy enough to learn.

If there's a better option out there, though, I'd love to learn about it. I'd also be interested in learning how to host Access on our agency's webserver and limiting access to credentialed managers, if that's possible.

Here are the requirements:

-Free (or Access, which all of the computers already have)
-Easy to use (most of the users are at a novice computing level, but they need to be able to access their employees' information, produce reports and update information)
-Accessible remotely (we have access to a server at one site, which other locations can "dial" into, as well as the agency webserver)
-Ability to control which managers have access to which information

I'm not sure if I've provided enough information, so feel free to ask questions. Thanks AskMefi!

How can I quickly match one of 150 million names to a code?

bottlebrushtree — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:10:55 -0800

I have up to 150 million product names, I need to match each of them to 1 or more codes. How can I do this very quickly and with little infrastructure requirements? Basically, up to 100,000 names will be checked against the master list of 150 million to see if they are on that specific list (they may not be). If they are on that list, the system will return one or more codes back. While I'm sure I can use a database for this activity, I'd love to hear other suggestions for alternatives such as a specific disk backed HashMap or other similar technology. A Java based or solution with Java bindings would be preferred. The system could possible dedicate up to 1GB of Ram in a transient fashion to this lookup (though much less would be preferred).

The names and mappings to code are relatively static, changing once a month at their maximum. I can pre-generate a digested format if that is required for the library to work.

A name is a string up to 255 characters, a code is a Java Int.

This would need to run on a single system running 64 bit Java JDK 1.5.0 and I'd rather that the solution use in process communication instead of network communication.

A solution using a single digested custom data file and a single Java jar library would be very nice.

Thank in advance.

Help with name

fluffycreature — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:47:06 -0800

Trying to locate early nineties database software that was fronted by a comedian, the names of either would help. I am trying to remember an early nineties piece of software that was part database and part information manager. It was for the Macintosh (Windows was to be written but never came to be that I am aware of...)
The company spokesperson was a comedian; he was thin, a mustache and dark hair. I think he was in a couple TV shows but never hugely popular, just recognizable.

I am trying to remember the name of either, which could then lead me to discover the other. It is the software I am mainly interested in.

I have hit a wall in searching for this and am hoping someone has a better memory for this obscure tidbit. It was an interesting piece of software.

Find me better database software.

ricochet biscuit — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:01:03 -0800

I have to compile a database for work to track about 300 separate data trends, but Access isn't cutting it. Suggestions for the next step up? Bear in mind, I am not really a computer guy. I subcontracted this out to a programmer type who undertook to build the database but soon discovered that Access cannot handle more than 256 items in a table. All his solutions are pretty kludgy and he suggests looking for a more robust database program, but I have no idea where to begin. Cost is a factor in puchasing new software: I work for a not-for-profit and have pretty much used up most my 2009 budget for this project. Any suggestions? How many dollars am I looking at for SQL server?

tableau for mac??

crapples — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:52:56 -0800

Help me find data visualization software like Tableau, where the visualizations can be viewed and interacted with by end users. But the rub is that I need it to work in the Macintosh environment. Tableau allows me to create data visualizations that include "quick filters" so that with the click of a check box I can include or exclude groups or values, updating the charts automatically (see product tour here). Also, it has the capability to publish these visualizations to the web so that end users can also interact with the data in the same way. But, Tableau only works with Windows.

The critical feature is end users filtering data on the fly with charts that I have created. The charts need to be in a central place so updates are worry free, so a web based solution is optimal.

I need these features, or similar ones, that work for Mac. Any suggestions?

Visual database browser?

rainy — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:19:10 -0800

Is there a visual, gui database browser that would let me select a data field and show value of data field in a different table that is referenced by first data field? I need this to look at PostgreSQL database. Basically I need something that can be accomplished with Views in psql but it would be nice to create it on the fly just by clicking on a field of data.