Hello. I'm looking for advice to a project. I am not too sure how to approach the project so here are the details. What I want to do is to create an online form of products that:
- is easy to maintain and update
- can perform basic math calculations
- can suggest complementary products to items that the user adds
- users can submit the form and send it to me
- eventually (2-3 years) have online ordering
I can create a database, using those handy wizards, in m$ access to do the calculations. But my experience with actual code writing is basic and i have no experience with online databases or any type of scripting language. Looking ahead I will probably hire someone for online ordering so there are no security issues but I would be maintaining it so I prefer to learn how to create it. From my criteria I am assuming that I should do it in a database and I can add functions as I go...?
For now I am just looking for a basic online form that performs basic math. I am using Dreamweaver creating the website and there is a addon that allows for math calculations but it would put a heavy load on the user and is extremely hard to maintain. What I would like to do is to perform calculations based upon numbers/values in cells under specific columns instead of using hidden input values. Here is an example table:
<form name="Cold_Appetizers" name="Cold_Appetizers">
<table>
<tr>
<th>Amount</th>
<th>Item</th>
<th>Price</th>
<th>Minimum Servings</th>
<th>Maximum Servings</th>
<th>Total</th>
<th>Minimum Serves</th>
<th>Maximum Serves</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <input type="text" name="amount1" id="amount1" /> </td>
<td> Cheese Tray </td>
<td> 10.00 </td>
<td> 5 </td>
<td> 15 </td>
<td> <input type="text" name="total1" id="total1" readonly="true" /> </td>
<td> <input type="text" name="min1" id="min1" readonly="true" /> </td>
<td> <input type="text" name="max1" id="max1" readonly="true" /> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <input type="text" name="amount2" id="amount2" /> </td>
<td> Fruit Tray </td>
<td> 15.00 </td>
<td> 10 </td>
<td> 20 </td>
<td> <input type="text" name="total2" id="total2" readonly="true" /> </td>
<td> <input type="text" name="min2" id="min2" readonly="true" /> </td>
<td> <input type="text" name="max2" id="max2" readonly="true" /> </td>
</tr>
</table>
<table>
<tr>
<th> Grand Total </th>
<th> Approx. Minimum Servings </th>
<th> Approx. Maximum Servings </th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <input type="text" name="grand_total" id="grand_total" readonly="true" />
<td> <input type="text" name="avg_min_serves" id="avg_min_serves" readonly="true" />
<td> <input type="text" name="avg_max_serves" id="avg_max_serves" readonly="true" />
</tr>
</table>
</form>
There are 200+ items and I already have all the items and descriptions in various types of formats. I have it in an access database, xml, and in tables. I just don't know where to begin. Please advise.
Thanks in advance.
