Thread: new beginner to postgresql. Looking at it for a church
Hello:
I was wondering if anyone has setup a point-of-sale system with postgresql. Also, I will have to create a database for a church that requires lots of tables and subcategories. They have 4 different locations and wish to be interconnected amongst each other, yet remain distinct and autonomous. They have lots different categories (women’s group, kid’s group, seminars, etc.) and funds within funds. Any suggestions/examples of how someone could go about the data-modeling for this. Also, was thinking of using .php and ruby to connect them via the net. I will also, require setting up a general ledger and a full accounting system for them. Inventory for books, cds. I am looking at multiple sources for them including MySQL, Microsoft.Net (really, really don’t want to go there) and any other suggestions individuals may have.
Thanks and help is much appreciated.
Pamela
Maybe this helps:
From: pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org [mailto:pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org] On Behalf Of Pamela
Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2005 4:32 PM
To: pgsql-general@postgresql.org
Subject: [GENERAL] new beginner to postgresql. Looking at it for a church
Hello:
I was wondering if anyone has setup a point-of-sale system with postgresql. Also, I will have to create a database for a church that requires lots of tables and subcategories. They have 4 different locations and wish to be interconnected amongst each other, yet remain distinct and autonomous. They have lots different categories (women’s group, kid’s group, seminars, etc.) and funds within funds. Any suggestions/examples of how someone could go about the data-modeling for this. Also, was thinking of using .php and ruby to connect them via the net. I will also, require setting up a general ledger and a full accounting system for them. Inventory for books, cds. I am looking at multiple sources for them including MySQL, Microsoft.Net (really, really don’t want to go there) and any other suggestions individuals may have.
Thanks and help is much appreciated.
Pamela
Pamela wrote: > Hello: > > > > I was wondering if anyone has setup a point-of-sale system with > postgresql. Also, I will have to create a database for a church that > requires lots of tables and subcategories. They have 4 different > locations and wish to be interconnected amongst each other, Postgresql can handle such a task, and should make things a little easier for you if you use schemas to organize your tables etc. You also have the option to use replication and dblink to do cross database queries etc. Don't know about the point of sale question though. (You mentioned you where new to Postgres) If you are a windows user be sure to check out PG Lightning Admin, it's much easier to use than PG Admin III (my opinion, no flames please) and it priced very inexpensively. AM Software Design http://www.amsoftwaredesign.com Home of PG Lightning Admin for Postgresql
It sounds as if reliability of the data is of some importance (usually is in financial applications), and personally, I wouldn'ttrust mySQL with such data -- the inability to have clean transactions, its willingness to insert data that doesn'tmatch what the original input was with throwing an error, and a few other gotchas come to mind. Of course, postgres may have a slightly higher learning curve -- mySQL in its native form can outperform postgres in someapplications. But if the data is important I'd go with postgres. Of course, this *is* a postgres list so such a feeling might not be reflective of everyone's results. Greg Williamson DBA GlobeXplorer LLC -----Original Message----- From: pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org on behalf of Pamela Sent: Tue 12/27/2005 9:33 PM To: pgsql-general@postgresql.org Cc: Subject: FW: Re[2]: [GENERAL] new beginner to postgresql. Looking at it for a church I would prefer using linux. I have worked in a limited capacity with both linux and windows. The front end I was looking at Ruby/PHP. Thanks Igor SQ- ledger.org provided by Dann Corbit has a lot of what I would be looking for plus more. The financials would require a budgeted amount plus requires budgeted minus actual, plus many computations and configurations so that they could at consolidated statements for the churches and separate financials. This would have to datamodeled properly and allow for there particulars. -----Original Message----- From: go KEY952866 [mailto:go@ugnn.ru] Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2005 9:25 PM To: pamela@bizwaves.net Subject: Re[2]: [GENERAL] new beginner to postgresql. Looking at it for a church Hi Pamela, Tell me please what front-end application are u planning for your project? and what server(Linux or Win) are u running for postgres? (if it is not a top-secret, please) Have a nice day! Igor. TC> Pamela wrote: >> Hello: >> >> >> >> I was wondering if anyone has setup a point-of-sale system with >> postgresql. Also, I will have to create a database for a church that >> requires lots of tables and subcategories. They have 4 different >> locations and wish to be interconnected amongst each other, TC> Postgresql can handle such a task, and should make things a little TC> easier for you if you use schemas to organize your tables etc. TC> You also have the option to use replication and dblink to do cross TC> database queries etc. TC> Don't know about the point of sale question though. TC> (You mentioned you where new to Postgres) TC> If you are a windows user be sure to check out PG Lightning Admin, it's TC> much easier to use than PG Admin III (my opinion, no flames please) and TC> it priced very inexpensively. TC> AM Software Design TC> http://www.amsoftwaredesign.com TC> Home of PG Lightning Admin for Postgresql TC> ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TC> TIP 4: Have you searched our list archives? TC> http://archives.postgresql.org -- Ñ óâàæåíèåì, Èãîðü mailto:go@ugnn.ru ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 5: don't forget to increase your free space map settings !DSPAM:43b223db207371333710190!
On Dec 27, 2005, at 7:31 PM, Pamela wrote: > I was wondering if anyone has setup a point-of-sale system with > postgresql. Also, I will have to create a database for a church > that requires lots of tables and subcategories. They have 4 > different locations and wish to be interconnected amongst each > other, yet remain distinct and autonomous. They have lots different > categories (women’s group, kid’s group, seminars, etc.) and funds > within funds. Any suggestions/examples of how someone could go > about the data-modeling for this. Also, was thinking of using .php > and ruby to connect them via the net. I will also, require setting > up a general ledger and a full accounting system for them. > Inventory for books, cds. I am looking at multiple sources for > them including MySQL, Microsoft.Net (really, really don’t want to > go there) and any other suggestions individuals may have. You might want to consider Drupal/PostgreSQL for the web interface (Drupal is written in PHP). Each location could have their own "site" from a single database in different schemas. Common tables for use with all sites could be managed in another schema. You could create a Drupal module to provide an interface to the accounting functions. John DeSoi, Ph.D. http://pgedit.com/ Power Tools for PostgreSQL
I have one customer running a point of sale system using PostgreSQL and SQL-Ledger with a fairly heavy set of modifications in SQL-Ledger. Feel free to contact me off-list if you need any pointers. SQL-Ledger can be found at http://www.sql-ledger.org. An unofficial wiki with lots of developer documentation can be found at http://www.metatrontech.com/sql-ledger-wiki/. A patch file containing the changes I have made for POS capability enhancements can be found at http://www.metatrontech.com/projects/ (these enhancements include pole display support, some printing enhancements, an open drawer button, and a few other things). The four location requirement is going to be possibly tricky. You could do it with one schema per location and then use Slony-I to replicate the changes back and forth. You could then have a reporting schema that would be used for your GL reports. This could be done using SQL-Ledger with some modification and a simple interface in Perl, PHP, Ruby or another language. With a little work it would probably even be possible to have a separate instance of SL for reporting the GL activities but this poses some unique problems, particularly because the data model of SL doesn't do a good job of protecting the integrity of the data (this is a particular problem when you are looking at integrating third-party apps with it). This is not an insoluble problem and it can be solved on the RDBMS level-- I have a beta patch which alters the schema to protect the data but it is relatively untested and for this type of app, I don't want to destribute publically until it has more testing, though if you want to test it please let me know. At any rate it shows what can be accomplished within PostgreSQL without even touching the application. HTH, Chris Travers Pamela wrote: > Hello: > > I was wondering if anyone has setup a point-of-sale system with > postgresql. Also, I will have to create a database for a church that > requires lots of tables and subcategories. They have 4 different > locations and wish to be interconnected amongst each other, yet remain > distinct and autonomous. They have lots different categories (women’s > group, kid’s group, seminars, etc.) and funds within funds. Any > suggestions/examples of how someone could go about the data-modeling > for this. Also, was thinking of using .php and ruby to connect them > via the net. I will also, require setting up a general ledger and a > full accounting system for them. Inventory for books, cds. I am > looking at multiple sources for them including MySQL, Microsoft.Net > (really, really don’t want to go there) and any other suggestions > individuals may have. > > Thanks and help is much appreciated. > > Pamela >