VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 16 of 16
Thread
  1. So I do not want to use excel but was wondering how hard would it be to create something that held names, email, phone, amount and time. Then lets say if David paid for items twice a week, I will need for it to tell me how much he spent on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis along with points that would be accumulated.
    Quote Quote  
  2. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Location
    Deep in the Heart of Texas
    Search PM
    Not sure why you are averse to excel (or its equivalents: g-sheets, apple numbers, open/libre office calc, lotus123, or even smartsheet). This would be a breeze for any of them. Not harder, at all.
    I could this in my sleep if I had the time (I don't, sorry).


    Scott
    Quote Quote  
  3. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    dFAQ.us/lordsmurf
    Search Comp PM
    - Quickbooks
    - various CRMs
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
    FAQs: Best Blank DiscsBest TBCsBest VCRs for captureRestore VHS
    Quote Quote  
  4. OK, there are 2 issues i see with the way you ask the question, first: the title says "something more advanced than excel".. it will be hard to find something thats "more advanced" than a software that exists for about 30-40 years and is worth billions of dollars. - of course it is only advanced in the area it was developed for.
    On the other hand you post this in the development forum which implies you thought about a custom program. If so, there are many questions that come up:

    -) what programming languages are you able to use
    -) in which environment has the final product to run
    -) especially interesting: what is the data source? so how do you gather the informations about names, email, phone amount and time?

    Sure there are many more questions but i am not sure if it is the direction you were thinking at all
    Last edited by emcodem; 25th Jul 2021 at 15:28.
    Quote Quote  
  5. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Location
    Deep in the Heart of Texas
    Search PM
    But all the criteria mentioned in the OP are so basic that many many tools can do it easily, including Excel and those equivalents that I already mentioned.


    Scott
    Quote Quote  
  6. Originally Posted by emcodem View Post
    OK, there are 2 issues i see with the way you ask the question, first: the title says "something more advanced than excel".. it will be hard to find something thats "more advanced" than a software that exists for about 30-40 years and is worth billions of dollars. - of course it is only advanced in the area it was developed for.
    On the other hand you post this in the development forum which implies you thought about a custom program. If so, there are many questions that come up:

    -) what programming languages are you able to use
    -) in which environment has the final product to run
    -) especially interesting: what is the data source? so how do you gather the informations about names, email, phone amount and time?

    Sure there are many more questions but i am not sure if it is the direction you were thinking at all


    You are right because I should of said more sleeker than excel. If possible I would love for the info to appear in webpage format. I know a small amount of html.
    Quote Quote  
  7. Member DB83's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Search Comp PM
    If you want this on a webpage - even just a local one on your PC - you code up in php and create your data in MySQL using an Apache server. All results then come from MySQL queries. Sounds expensive but everything, even a dms such as Heidi is free.


    Sleeker yes. A learning curve an even bigger yes
    Quote Quote  
  8. SQLite probably makes more sense than MySQL.
    users currently on my ignore list: deadrats, Stears555
    Quote Quote  
  9. Member DB83's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Search Comp PM
    ^^ don't know that one. Since I have to author my website for online and offline (for testing) I stick to the basics.
    Quote Quote  
  10. Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Don't know what you mean by sleek, but Excel has database functions that should fit your needs. You can create a custom form page to display only the info you need and use the online version of Excel to display in a browser, though I'm not sure all the functions are available.

    Decades ago I created a workbook for the store I managed to maintain the customer information. Everything was hidden behind the form I created, not only make it easier for my co-workers, but to prevent them from touching anything they shouldn't. My co-worker who was a wiz at databases said "You did that in Excel?!"

    I work in accounting and when I'm asked if I know Excel, I answer is that I've found over the decades that "Knowing Excel" is situational. There are advanced functions that I've never used before that make sense after looking up the formula and learning what they do.
    Last edited by lingyi; 27th Jul 2021 at 13:19.
    Quote Quote  
  11. DECEASED
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Heaven
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by Selur View Post
    SQLite probably makes more sense than MySQL.
    If the ˇdiots who write the source-code of Firefox use SQlite then SQlite surely suxxx.
    "Programmers are human-shaped machines that transform alcohol into bugs."
    Quote Quote  
  12. Originally Posted by mol3000 View Post
    So I do not want to use excel but was wondering how hard would it be to create something that held names, email, phone, amount and time. Then lets say if David paid for items twice a week, I will need for it to tell me how much he spent on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis along with points that would be accumulated.
    There is no other spreadsheet program invented that even comes close to Excel, did you mean you begrudge paying for Excel ?

    If so, there are hundreds of open source spreadsheet apps that will run that basic, little formula automated, and with ease.
    Quote Quote  
  13. [QUOTE=mol3000;2626565]
    Originally Posted by emcodem View Post
    If possible I would love for the info to appear in webpage format. I know a small amount of html.
    I guess the big question i asked before is the key part here... what is the data source? Is all the data how much david paid how often already available in some kind of database or other digital form or do you want/need to input it manually anyways?
    If you input the data manually, then it is most likely just as all others said here, the time to develop your own solution would be huge compared to just learn and work into one of the existing spreadsheed apps like excel... It could only make sense to develop your own solution in a large scale environment, e.g. when you need a few users to work with it and they are not teachable regarding using the spreadsheed app
    Last edited by emcodem; 30th Jul 2021 at 19:38.
    Quote Quote  
  14. [QUOTE=emcodem;2627016]
    Originally Posted by mol3000 View Post
    Originally Posted by emcodem View Post
    If possible I would love for the info to appear in webpage format. I know a small amount of html.
    I guess the big question i asked before is the key part here... what is the data source? Is all the data how much david paid how often already available in some kind of database or other digital form or do you want/need to input it manually anyways?
    If you input the data manually, then it is most likely just as all others said here, the time to develop your own solution would be huge compared to just learn and work into one of the existing spreadsheed apps like excel... It could only make sense to develop your own solution in a large scale environment, e.g. when you need a few users to work with it and they are not teachable regarding using the spreadsheed app
    Yes, the person would enter certain stats manually. For example. A person would enter the time someone came in and enter when they left. That person would be able to look at a particular webpage later and see how many hours that person spent doing a particular task (and no this has nothing to do with timesheets or getting paid)
    Quote Quote  
  15. Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    You could use Google Sheets, Create a form [and add formulas, lookup tables for data] and Embed into webpage.

    What you're asking for would take a few minutes.

    Stop trying to recreate a well proven and designed wheel.
    Last edited by lingyi; 11th Aug 2021 at 13:26.
    Quote Quote  
  16. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Location
    Deep in the Heart of Texas
    Search PM
    Agree with lingyi, the back end could be most any data store (excel, csv, sql, etc), and the front end for end user would be an entry and/or edit form, web-based so can easily access it and can be customized to follow the flow you want to direct them to.
    Can be done with some massaging & convincing in Excel, can be done much easier in MS Access (though that can get into issues with cloud sharing and file locking). Can be done MUCH easier with Gsheets or with SmartSheet (which are both cloud-based and have no sharing issues).

    Scott
    Quote Quote  



Similar Threads

Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!