> The pest from Sarnia. > I think I solved the first problem, made them as a csv file, but my DOS > program will only write 64 characters per line (doesn't csv have to be > on one line)?? > I have a few records with over 3,000 characters. > > Still haven't figure out how to use MySQL. > Would it be better if I found a search engine that could do text files?? > You people are geniuses. > I wish there was a group for beginners to databases.
For MySQL, this is it - for newbies and experts. Don't forget the newsgroups: comp.databases.rdb and gated.mysql.misc are good ones. Use Google groups. I strongly suggest you get well-versed in relational database design by getting yourself some good books. Here's a few that I can recommend: "MySQL" Paul Dubois "Database design for mere mortals" Michael J. Hernandez "SQL queries for mere mortals" Michael J. Hernandez "MySQL Cookbook" Paul Dubois If you get stuck with something try this list or the newsgroups. > > "SAR0260","999 feb try13","INFORMATION SARNIA LAMBTON","",""," > ","","","180 North College Avenue","Sarnia","ON","N7T 7X2"," > (519) 332-2814","","","(519) 542-4566",""," > ","[EMAIL PROTECTED]","http://www.informsarnialambton.org","; > Ray Beggs","Chairman","","","Norm Lamoureux","Database > Manager","Sue Wright, Secretary","","Assists the public in > locating or obtaining information about any organization, > agency, program, club, group, event, or service in Sarnia- > Lambton from a computer database. Provides appropriate > resources. Numbers available for out-of-town services. The > database is also available on the Internet.","INFORMATION AND > REFERRAL","2002-01-15"," Whew, if that's one record, then you are going to need some changes. It looks as though all the information about this entity is in this one record, is that right? What you are running into is trying to convert an old flat file database (say from FoxPro) into a relational one. We've all ran into this at one time or another and it can be a real bear, but not impossible. It will require some programming to extract the individual pieces of data from the entries like the one above, and enter them into the correct tables once you have that part figured out. Using the above 'record', here's what I'm guessing the fields are: ID: SAR0260 SubID: 999 feb try13 ( ? ) OrgName: INFORMATION SARNIA LAMBTON Blank1: Blank2: Blank3: StreetAddress1: 180 North College Avenue (* you might wish to add a second street address) StreetAddress2: 2nd Floor, Selby Building City: Sarnia Province: ON PCode: N7T 7X2 VoiceAreaCode: 519 (* note that I break out the area code into a separate field) VoicePhone: 332-2814 Blank4: Blank5: FaxAreaCode: 519 FaxPhone: 542-4566 Blank6: Blank7: ContactEmail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] OrgURL: http://www.informsarnialambton.org OrgName1: Ray Beggs OrgName1Position: Chairman Blank8: Blank9: OrgName2: Norm Lamoureux OrgName2Position: Database Manager OrgName3: Sue Wright OrgName3Position: Secretary (* note that I broke this into 2 fields) Blank10: OrgDescription: Assists the public in ... OrgCategory: INFORMATION AND REFERRAL OrgEntryDate: 2002-01-15 Relational database design takes information about something and breaks it up into separate chunks, each chunk handling only one aspect of the whole ball of wax. The chunks are called tables, and in your case I can immediately see 3 or 4 tables that this data could be broken into. I'm assuming 'SAR0260' is a unique identifier for this entity, and that every entity also has a unique identifier? If so, that is an excellent start, as that will be used to tie the different records together. There seems to be several fields of contact information (names, addresses, emails, URLs, phones etc.) Look at every individual piece of information and decide exactly what it is 'about'. When you have a few collections of these, they will make up your tables. For example, I might break up the information into these tables and fields: Organizations (these fields describe only the organization) ID: SAR0260 SubID: 999 feb try13 ( ? ) OrgName: INFORMATION SARNIA LAMBTON Blank1: Blank2: Blank3: OrgEntryDate: 2002-01-15 StreetAddress1: 180 North College Avenue (* you might wish to add a second street address) StreetAddress2: 2nd Floor, Selby Building City: Sarnia Province: ON PCode: N7T 7X2 VoiceAreaCode: 519 (* note that I break out the area code into a separate field) VoicePhone: 332-2814 ( some would even break out the exchange, depending on their needs) Blank4: ( voice extension ?) Blank5: FaxAreaCode: 519 FaxPhone: 542-4566 OrgURL: http://www.informsarnialambton.org Contacts (these only describe contacts) ID: SAR0260 ContactEmail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] OrgName1: Ray Beggs OrgName1Position: Chairman Blank8: Blank9: OrgName2: Norm Lamoureux OrgName2Position: Database Manager OrgName3: Sue Wright OrgName3Position: Secretary (* note that I broke this into 2 fields) Categories ID: SAR0260 OrgCategory: INFORMATION AND REFERRAL Descriptions ( some would leave this in the Organizations table ) ID: SAR0260 OrgDescription: Assists the public in ... As you read and begin to understand relational database concepts, this will make more sense to you. You are in for a very interesting and challenging task but it's also lots of fun. Good luck. -- /* All outgoing email scanned by Norton Antivirus 2002 */ Amer Neely, Softouch Information Services W: www.softouch.on.ca E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] V: 519.438.5887 Perl | PHP | MySQL | CGI programming for all data entry forms. 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