Forum Discussion

JJnLilly's avatar
JJnLilly
Explorer
Oct 10, 2016

Programming Help

Looking for some computer programming help. We volunteer at the Airman’s Attic at MacDill AFB. Our facility is a ‘free’ thrift shop for E-1 to E-6 (All Branches) with items donated from active, reserve, retired and civilian folks. We want to set up a data base to: (1) track our clients/customers (When initially registering folks must give some basic info and sign a non-resale statement) and (2) track what each client buys/takes from our facility (we have an items per month limit).

Currently everything is done on paper. When a client/customer checks out we must retrieve her/his tracking form and then manually tally the items. What we are looking for is a way to have the names in a data base so we can search, pull up and record more efficiently.

We have a donated laptop with a current version of Microsoft Office (Word/Excel/Access).
Any volunteer help will be appreciated. PM me if you have some ideas.

Thanks
  • magicbus's avatar
    magicbus
    Explorer II
    Oct 10, 2016
    I agree that Access will be the easiest and it looks like the Personal Account Ledger template will give you what you need. Access is pretty easy once you play around with it a bit. Just experiment until you figure out what it does and the create a new clean database or delete any practice junk you entered.

    Click here for instructions on using Templates to create an Access database

    Follow the instructions for creating a database with a template. In the Available Template screen you should see a search box. Type in Personal account ledger and Access should find it on Office.com. Download it and it should start automatically with the data entry screen. You can then save it and give it a name and play around with it. I think it will do what you are asking.

    Dave
  • Fire19's avatar
    Fire19
    Explorer
    Oct 10, 2016
    You could also contact the Local Community Colleges and the IT department. The Students may create a database's for a class project, it may not be overnight but you can work with them.
  • JJnLilly's avatar
    JJnLilly
    Explorer
    Oct 10, 2016
    Appreciate the input. I am not real conversant with Access but guess I will have to learn.
  • 1492's avatar
    1492
    Moderator
    Oct 10, 2016
    Your needs appear to be fairly simple, straightforward. It wouldn't take much time to setup an Access database. Which is likely your best option.

    FileMaker is still very popular in my organization, and others I work with, though not inexpensive. I don't use it personally, though heard its fairly simple to use.

    I most often use an open source free database. Though not very intuitive is widely used, but requires some concerted discipline to learn. Wouldn't be worth the time or effort in your scenario.
  • dons2346's avatar
    dons2346
    Explorer
    Oct 10, 2016
    strollin wrote:
    Since you have MS Access on that laptop, you may want to take a look at that to see if you can figure out how to setup the DB you wish with it. Access has lots of templates to get you started and one of them may work for what you want/need to do.


    Access will work for you
  • sch911's avatar
    sch911
    Explorer
    Oct 10, 2016
    strollin wrote:
    Since you have MS Access on that laptop, you may want to take a look at that to see if you can figure out how to setup the DB you wish with it. Access has lots of templates to get you started and one of them may work for what you want/need to do.


    Yes, look for the Northwinds demo DB (free download). It may be pretty close to what you need. Good luck!
  • strollin's avatar
    strollin
    Explorer
    Oct 10, 2016
    Since you have MS Access on that laptop, you may want to take a look at that to see if you can figure out how to setup the DB you wish with it. Access has lots of templates to get you started and one of them may work for what you want/need to do.
  • BarneyS's avatar
    BarneyS
    Explorer III
    Oct 10, 2016
    Check with the folks at the FamCamp office down by beach. There are many snowbirds showing up now at MacDill (I will be there in another two weeks) and many of them are very proficient at spread sheet use. I am sure they would love to give you some help! I am not good at spread sheets or would gladly volunteer some time to get you set up.
    Barney

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