I’ve been actively using the database for a paper I have to write as well as just general data entry for resources I’ve had marked for ages just waiting for the creation of this database. It seems the best way to troubleshoot and think about what else I would like it to be able to do. Here’s a brief list:
- Add an institution field for the authors: and speaking of institution, it really should be a separate table where I can pick off a list so the data entry is consistent for the field. There is an institution field in the resource table as well and I could use the same table.
- Continue to add fields to the resource update field (editbook.php). I added pull-down menus for periodicals and types. I based them on the checkboxes for keywords and authors but in this case, it’s a one-to-one relationship. It took a little while to get the lists to appear and then to get them to show the correct periodical and type. I’ve solved all that but the continuing problem is that when you’re in the edit screen, the first periodical and publisher appear and when you press submit, their id numbers get written to the resource table. I could solve it through the database but creating a row called “None Selected” and choose that each time I enter a new resource but I wonder if there’s a way to do it with the code? I tried echoing “None Selected” when there was no id match but then the pull-down menu just displayed that instead of the periodicals and types. I’m wondering if I can write an if/else statement that says that if no match exists then the list should display “None Selected” but also providing all the choices.
- quotequery.php passes the id of the resource but is directed to the edit quotes page so the wrong quote appears. In the quotequery.php page, the edit/delete/add choices functions refer to the resource.
- Create a Views page that includes the various queries I’ve developed. And I need to continue to hone my formatting skills by incoporating html code and php echo statements.
There’s plenty more but that’s a good start…I’m going to watch Part II of The Fellowship of the Ring tonight and do some coding and then data entry.
Things I’ve Learned:
Choosing the right data storage type is important. I choose smallint for my quotespage field only to discover that it goes to 127. So, when I started entering page numbers that were larger than that, they defaulted to 127.
There are lots of other formatting issues.
