Re: Getting started - Interfacing questions - Mailing list pgsql-novice
From | Sean Davis |
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Subject | Re: Getting started - Interfacing questions |
Date | |
Msg-id | 000a01c52246$e061fb60$1f6df345@WATSON Whole thread Raw |
In response to | Getting started - Interfacing questions (David <dbree@duo-county.com>) |
Responses |
Re: Getting started - Interfacing questions
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List | pgsql-novice |
----- Original Message ----- From: "David" <dbree@duo-county.com> To: <pgsql-novice@postgresql.org> Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2005 2:07 AM Subject: [NOVICE] Getting started - Interfacing questions > I'm quite a newbie with Postgresql - or any databases whatsoever, for > that matter. I've been studying the archives and documentation for the > past couple of weeks and find it quite fascinating. > > I must say that my interest is totally personal. My initial project is > to convert my personal record-keeping system from a flat random-access > disk structure to a genuine DB. My needs for this are quite modest, > probably a couple or so hundred records for the year - not really in the > category for needing a true database, but it appears that the > possibilities for making reports would be limitless. The current > structure of my system is something like this. > > a payor/payee file, containing the names of people/businesses with which > I do business. > Two Categories files, (income, expense) - the various categories such as > Labor, Supplies, etc. > A data file describing the date, descr, payor/payee, Category, > cost/income value > > The payor/payee and the Category file entries also have fields for the > current totals for the respective element, which was updated with > each transaction. This is no longer needed in my current system, nor > would be for Postgresql, but the program was originally written for > a 2 Mhz 8-bit computer, and I didn't want to wait for that system to > scan over the whole system each time I did a query. Oh, FWIW, the > program is written in "C". > > > Currently, the reports I do are: > > 1) An itemized list for each transaction, broken down by category > 2) A summary for the totals for each payor/payee > 3) A summary for each category > 4) A summary with incomes/expenses broken down by the month. > > Actually, at this point, I've been able to basically get most of what I > want with psql, with my experimentation, although I'd need to do some > honing to what I've got before I could get a final working model. > > The question I've not yet been able to satisfactorily answer - I suppose > I could answer it myself with enough experimentation, but would appreciate > a little jump-start if possible - is the correct interfacing method. As > I said, it appears that psql _may_ give me all I need, but what is the > normal approach to operating a database? Are real databases actually > run from psql, or is it better to develop a front-end to the whole > setup? One note, in my case, what I'm developing is strictly > single-user. If need be, I could do my inserts straight from the SQL > command, although a forms-type interface (as I have in my current setup) > would be nice. While only a single user, you might find building a web-based interface straightforward, and you can modify the "look and feel" quite easily, because HTML is built for just that. If I were you, I would build a "business logic" component, allowing for querying, inserting, updating, deleting. Once you have the interface to the database, you can build a controller for the application. Finally, you can use a tool for generating views of the data. I use perl and find Class::DBI a good start for the data model, CGI::application for the controller, and Template::Toolkit (all available from http://search.cpan.org). There are numerous other posts with different answers recently. Try searching for GUI or forms in the archives. Sean > The biggest drawback I'm seeing with psql, unless there's something I've > not discovered yet, is in making neat-looking reports. I'm not looking > for anything extremely fancy - just easily readable and easy to > interpret. > > I installed pgaccess but I'm not sure it will do what I want. I > downloaded the datavision sources, but am missing some classes and I > don't know if I want to fool with java or not. > > So, it all boils down to this - can a serious database be run from psql > or is it better to use something else? I believe I could write an app > in "C" without much trouble, using my current program for a pattern for > the user interfacing, and I'm even thinking about trying my hand > at perl or python, but it would be nice to do it all from psql if > possible.
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