Thread: new beginner to postgresql. Looking at it for a church

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


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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
>