[nmglug] MySQL - Howto

[J. Marsden DeLapp]

Tim Emerick wrote:
> I've been using MS Excel's Pivot Tables for years to analyze large chunks of data.  I'm getting to the point where my data is getting to be more lines than Excel can handle.  I'm thinking it's time to actually learn a DBMS and some SQL.  Of course I would like to go towards MySQL but it's a little intimidating.
> 
> Can anybody offer some books or websites that might offer some help?  I'm not sure where I want to end up but I know that I want to eventually keep a repository of approximately 470,000 records per year and be able to generate various reports.  Mind you, I'm not a programmer in any sense of the word.  Would love if I could use Excel Pivot Tables as the reporting tool with MySQL as the back end.
> 
> LAMP?  Ruby on Rails?  phpMyAdmin?  Something else?

If you are not a programmer, then you probably want some sort of GUI front end for a database.

Have you looked at Open Office Base? Not that I have in any detail, or that I would recommend it for your situation. But 
in my recent investigation of various database front ends, it looks like a promising, easy to learn database front end. 
Considering that it is associated with Open Office, it is likely to see some significant development efforts and be 
around for awhile.

Another one on my list to check out is Kexi
http://www.kexi-project.org/

Now if you want to learn to do some programming, a LAMP solution might be the ticket.

phpMyAdmin is only tool to deal with the database structure. It does not have tools to create forms or reports, or at 
least not that I have found.

I am still looking for a tool that will allow me to easily create (actually recreate) a bunch of forms including all the 
various little programming tidbits that make them work currently in MS Access. The ideal tool for me would have a GUI 
and create forms with python code so they would work on a computer that is not necessarily running a web server. A web 
server is required for PHP forms, which would be my second choice.

Anyone know if such a tool?

Mars

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J. Marsden DeLapp, PE
President
DeLapp & Associates, Inc. dba DeLapp Engineering®
Providing lighting and power planning, design and analysis services
for commercial, industrial and large residential facilities.
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(505) 983-5557
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