Help me out on this database thing

[Sa3atsky]

I have this huge list of cds of mine..
And I wanna arrange them, you know.. Like if I select by Genre, it shows me all the bands->albums by genre.. or by year, it shows all the bands->albums released in that year.. Or say I select genre and year, I think you already got the idea...

Like a table with the +'s and -'s that collapses and merges u know what I'm talkin about..

I already have the names,albums,genres and years arranged in a text file but I dunno what programming language to use with this.. what program..nothing..
I think its XML but I'm not really sure how.. could anybody direct me to a guide or a program that could do what I want? PLEEEASE?

 

[mccoyn]

XML is a text language for storing data. It is similiar to a database, but uses a more general structure. If your going to write your own porgram anyways, you might want to just keep it as a text file. Its not that important to structure it another way.

The easist thing I can think of would be to use vbScript.Net to create a dialog that has a listview in it. Then load the file and fill the listview. A listview is the thing you get in the file explorer. When you put it in detail mode, you can right click the columns and change the sort order. Basically, all the work is done for you in a nice little interface.

You could also use javaScript.Net, VB.Net, MC++ or C# if you are more familiar with them. In any case I can fill you in on any questions you have.

Oh, you can also look around www.sourceforge.net to see if anyone has bothered to do something like this before. If you have MS Excel, or MS Access you can import the text file and look through it in there.

 

[TimP]

XML with XSD would give you a nice file based database so you wouldn't need to have an expensive database like SQL Server or MS Access. Your best bet, in my opinion, would be a .NET language because of its extensive support for XML. A combination of DataSets, DataViews, and Datagrids would make a nice app.

 

[Cúchulainn]

Since your data set sounds like it will be fairly small something like SQLite springs to mind. Very easy to use, keeps everything in a single file, and fast. When used with a language like Perl the driver, engine, and DB are virtually the same.

 

[DaFonz]

Actually programming something would seem like overkill?

If it's just for your purposes, why not just dump the data into an excel spreadsheet and write a couple of macros? Alternately, use access. They are both fairly easy to pick up and you won't need to program.

Well...unless you want to share this with other people online?

 

[Sa3atsky]

Looks like thats what I'm gonna do.. Set the list in excel.. then convert it to XML or any other language that supports the +, -, tree thing.. What program is available that converts Excel to XML?

 

[mccoyn]

I believe you can save it as XML from excel.

 

[DaFonz]

Isn't the XML from excel some *******ized MS version that most things puke on?

 

[MitchV]

Looks like thats what I'm gonna do.. Set the list in excel.. then convert it to XML or any other language that supports the +, -, tree thing.. What program is available that converts Excel to XML?

An easy way for you to filter your data with Excel is to use the autofilter. Create headers for your columns and highlight the header row, select data -> filter -> auto filter, and you'll be able to group things together easily.

Personally, Excel drives me nuts. I like strong datatypes and Excel will try to "help" you by automatically formatting things.

I work with a lot of accountants and they tend to either love Lotus or Excel (you see much more Excel these days). Excel can be very handy for some things, but I don't trust it with data integrity for anything other than 5 minute hack jobs.

XML is really unnecessary if you are storing all your data in an Excel spreadsheet. If you ever decide to export your data to a database or flat file, there are many options as Excel is an ODBC compliant datasource (when it isn't screwing up your data!!!), If you are so inclined, dump it out to an XML file, CSV, or whatever... you have plenty of options.

 

[mccoyn]

Isn't the XML from excel some *******ized MS version that most things puke on?

I've never actually done it so it may be.