Ossie_Jesson
asked on
build an expression ,query wheel for a database ?
Is anyone interested in building an expression , query wheel for a database like Access ?
Ruby men and women perhaps needing a little project to tone up those flight muscles ready to show the world that computers are well .. really useful and quick to the draw , you could perhaps put in on rails Or .net builders need a forum to show what can really be done asp when you have both the ways and means ?? Give it shot anyone ? climb the hill because its there ?
At what I envisage
A visual interface a bit like a 16 sided wheel with spokes . you spin it round with the mouse and expressions show ,are revealed in a window which is in a segment of the wheel and the result of that expression show up in descriptive window .Having then chosen the expression right for the job you clik drag and drop it to the query where it is to be applied , now isn t that better than the builder in Access ? and if you get it wrong hey we can go back and spin the wheel again ,drag and drop till we get it right and next time we call back well be smarter and quicker on thedraw .
I quess what I have in mind its a bit like an on screen circular slide rule ( dont know about slide rules try wiki ? ) for Access slaves .
I need one for Access but would drop Access like an removal man puts down an Anvil if I could get an expression query builder like this that would work on a database of some sort
And is it possible to build it ? for Access Mysql or any other dbase family ?
If anyone is interested let me know and I can draw a visual perhaps make a paper mock up of what I have in mind for Access expressions at least
Thanks
About me . I am a back office worker who wants to get home early having got the job done and well
I am not an expert of any sort in computer s but I read a bit about them and I work hard and intend to become a fantastic expert at getting the box to do loads and loads of work for me and other s .
Ruby men and women perhaps needing a little project to tone up those flight muscles ready to show the world that computers are well .. really useful and quick to the draw , you could perhaps put in on rails Or .net builders need a forum to show what can really be done asp when you have both the ways and means ?? Give it shot anyone ? climb the hill because its there ?
At what I envisage
A visual interface a bit like a 16 sided wheel with spokes . you spin it round with the mouse and expressions show ,are revealed in a window which is in a segment of the wheel and the result of that expression show up in descriptive window .Having then chosen the expression right for the job you clik drag and drop it to the query where it is to be applied , now isn t that better than the builder in Access ? and if you get it wrong hey we can go back and spin the wheel again ,drag and drop till we get it right and next time we call back well be smarter and quicker on thedraw .
I quess what I have in mind its a bit like an on screen circular slide rule ( dont know about slide rules try wiki ? ) for Access slaves .
I need one for Access but would drop Access like an removal man puts down an Anvil if I could get an expression query builder like this that would work on a database of some sort
And is it possible to build it ? for Access Mysql or any other dbase family ?
If anyone is interested let me know and I can draw a visual perhaps make a paper mock up of what I have in mind for Access expressions at least
Thanks
About me . I am a back office worker who wants to get home early having got the job done and well
I am not an expert of any sort in computer s but I read a bit about them and I work hard and intend to become a fantastic expert at getting the box to do loads and loads of work for me and other s .
Can you simplify what it is you are looking for here in a General sense, using general terms?
ASKER
So here I am on an Access Page with two Genius looking down ( sure hope they havent read all the misinformed and half baked things I have said in the past about Access, along the lines of:- using Access , in my humble opinion and experience does for office productivity what gout does for sprinters or, Access is the stuff that makes the IT department grow ) I am so regretting all those past comments now. If only mother had warned me that I might end up on the same page as not one, but two Access Genie. I would have been more discreet oh so much more discreet .
Anyhow, as we are well and truly in the lions den right now I will bite the bullet chin up and here we go. I will explain as specifically as i can what I am seeing in my minds eye that will help Access and me to come to terms .. possibly .
1) take a piece of paper or card cut it to as large a circle as you can manage divide into sixteen or so segmenst with penil and ruler number the segments
2) write 16 of the expressions that Access Help describes you can use in query criteria , in the segment radialially from center to edge of tuther way if youi like .
I have in mind those it cites for building Criteria in a query for starters chose one of the categories and put them all or the best most used of the same type in the segments on the disk
Chose just one type from the various types. ie those that do dates ,those that do calcs, those that do text and other things, those that do things that I dont know about yet.But importantly only use one type on ta disk
3) Now cut out another paper or card circle slightly smaller than the first one cut out a window slot in this card that is the same size and orientation as a single segment as draw on the first card
4 Make a pin hole in the middle ( sorry mathematicians I meant at the centre ) of each card .Go to the stationary tray or someone who always seems to have the right thing and get one of those brass things with a button top and two legs they are about the size of a smalla paper clip and use it to secure the two pieces of card together through the hole you made in the centre of the disks using the brass thingy .
Now all being well you have a disc with a window in it that reveals the contents of one segment showing one expression on the dsik below . Having fun ? No I quessed not so lets more qucikly on and
Repeat steps 1- 4
Producing a disc expression reader for each of the types of expression that can be used to get the goodies out of a table via a criteria in a query ( we can progress to other uses of expression later . . maybe if we are brave and if I havea clue what they were all about ) so we have say 3 or fours discs I guess now
Now this is the really smart bit .Ready ?
Step
5) Get get the smartest Access person you know to stand next to you and look over your shoulder and as you turn the disk segment by segment in a kindly voice to tell you what each expression does , and what presise results it will produce . Go through all the discs making sure that you have got all the good bits look out particularly for the one where you hear the kindly voice say something like and this is the expression that tells us that as of 5 pm Friday you are only Holiday for a fortnight in a red dwarfy kind of way . ( that was a joke there is not really an expression that does that , well not on its own if there was all the codeers would be out of a job now would they not ? )
If you cant have a Access wizard or genius look over your shoulder get some one to read them aloud from the Access Help files but ,nicely ,without any bitterness or rancour in the tone of voice .
Is that it ? Wll just about, except that you cannot expect the geni to stay on your shoulder all the time so what we are going to do next is .
FIND SOMEONE to build it all digitally ,Then hook it up inside the MS Office Programme along side good old Access so that i can bring it up on the screen whenever I need it . click on the right disk, spin it round with the mouse and instead of a real Access Guru gently telling me what the expression does have it displayed in a window . I can ,when I am sure what it is I need ,cut and paste it from that window into the Access query panel or whatever its called !!
In the advance stable release candidate version their may perhaps be a voice announcing i .if you use this expression you will identify all those employees who will retire next month if you apply it to the DOB field .Please send them a card . . yes we could even get the little paper clip on a bike man back from Office 2003 riding round on the disks !!
So that is it quys. A digital on screen Access Help spin your way around and through expressions.A Spinning Wheel for the Formulerically challenged .
What do you think so far ?? I thought so
OH well . after you Geni review this and have to ,and quite rightly so , evict me from the Access Zone for heresy and failing to maintain due order and compliance in Accessland .Please I beg be merciful and send me somewhere far away where there is a Big Jolly Santa Claus type expert .. who might just say ho ho ho sonny, the elves will knock you one of those up in a GUI Jiffy .
I dont know where that will be.Will it be Ajax land perhaps? Or the place where Flash gordon .NET & little miss Ruby on and off the rails lives maybe.
So thanks for your time and I hope I have brought some little ray of something to you ()
Anyhow, as we are well and truly in the lions den right now I will bite the bullet chin up and here we go. I will explain as specifically as i can what I am seeing in my minds eye that will help Access and me to come to terms .. possibly .
1) take a piece of paper or card cut it to as large a circle as you can manage divide into sixteen or so segmenst with penil and ruler number the segments
2) write 16 of the expressions that Access Help describes you can use in query criteria , in the segment radialially from center to edge of tuther way if youi like .
I have in mind those it cites for building Criteria in a query for starters chose one of the categories and put them all or the best most used of the same type in the segments on the disk
Chose just one type from the various types. ie those that do dates ,those that do calcs, those that do text and other things, those that do things that I dont know about yet.But importantly only use one type on ta disk
3) Now cut out another paper or card circle slightly smaller than the first one cut out a window slot in this card that is the same size and orientation as a single segment as draw on the first card
4 Make a pin hole in the middle ( sorry mathematicians I meant at the centre ) of each card .Go to the stationary tray or someone who always seems to have the right thing and get one of those brass things with a button top and two legs they are about the size of a smalla paper clip and use it to secure the two pieces of card together through the hole you made in the centre of the disks using the brass thingy .
Now all being well you have a disc with a window in it that reveals the contents of one segment showing one expression on the dsik below . Having fun ? No I quessed not so lets more qucikly on and
Repeat steps 1- 4
Producing a disc expression reader for each of the types of expression that can be used to get the goodies out of a table via a criteria in a query ( we can progress to other uses of expression later . . maybe if we are brave and if I havea clue what they were all about ) so we have say 3 or fours discs I guess now
Now this is the really smart bit .Ready ?
Step
5) Get get the smartest Access person you know to stand next to you and look over your shoulder and as you turn the disk segment by segment in a kindly voice to tell you what each expression does , and what presise results it will produce . Go through all the discs making sure that you have got all the good bits look out particularly for the one where you hear the kindly voice say something like and this is the expression that tells us that as of 5 pm Friday you are only Holiday for a fortnight in a red dwarfy kind of way . ( that was a joke there is not really an expression that does that , well not on its own if there was all the codeers would be out of a job now would they not ? )
If you cant have a Access wizard or genius look over your shoulder get some one to read them aloud from the Access Help files but ,nicely ,without any bitterness or rancour in the tone of voice .
Is that it ? Wll just about, except that you cannot expect the geni to stay on your shoulder all the time so what we are going to do next is .
FIND SOMEONE to build it all digitally ,Then hook it up inside the MS Office Programme along side good old Access so that i can bring it up on the screen whenever I need it . click on the right disk, spin it round with the mouse and instead of a real Access Guru gently telling me what the expression does have it displayed in a window . I can ,when I am sure what it is I need ,cut and paste it from that window into the Access query panel or whatever its called !!
In the advance stable release candidate version their may perhaps be a voice announcing i .if you use this expression you will identify all those employees who will retire next month if you apply it to the DOB field .Please send them a card . . yes we could even get the little paper clip on a bike man back from Office 2003 riding round on the disks !!
So that is it quys. A digital on screen Access Help spin your way around and through expressions.A Spinning Wheel for the Formulerically challenged .
What do you think so far ?? I thought so
OH well . after you Geni review this and have to ,and quite rightly so , evict me from the Access Zone for heresy and failing to maintain due order and compliance in Accessland .Please I beg be merciful and send me somewhere far away where there is a Big Jolly Santa Claus type expert .. who might just say ho ho ho sonny, the elves will knock you one of those up in a GUI Jiffy .
I dont know where that will be.Will it be Ajax land perhaps? Or the place where Flash gordon .NET & little miss Ruby on and off the rails lives maybe.
So thanks for your time and I hope I have brought some little ray of something to you ()
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
1 )yes
2) Thanks very much your so kind
3) i havent quite got the full hang of posting questions yet sorry about the points
Ithought I offered 2000 !!
4 ) its not qite the spinnin wheel I had in mind but probably more appropiate !!
Thanks
2) Thanks very much your so kind
3) i havent quite got the full hang of posting questions yet sorry about the points
Ithought I offered 2000 !!
4 ) its not qite the spinnin wheel I had in mind but probably more appropiate !!
Thanks
Then please click the "Accept as Solution" link for my post
;-)
;-)
ASKER
Than you this has set me up on the way to manipulating expressions whilst working in Access .and wil not doubt given suitable levels of input and study on my part hopefully improve my workrate