On 14 December 2015 at 13:48, Swarup <dinban...@sprynet.com> wrote: > On 12/14/2015 07:22 AM, Jaroslaw Staniek wrote: > > On 14 December 2015 at 13:13, <c...@isbd.net> wrote: > > Jaroslaw Staniek <stan...@kde.org> wrote: > > The exclusive group or RAD users is not small but severely distributed > so quite hard to reach. Misused spreadsheets for example are > competitors too. There's always room for IT projects without any > reasonable budget assigned. > > Yes, that's my pet hate, people using spreadsheets for storing tables > of text information. :-) > > That triggered creation of this chapter of the handbook: > https://userbase.kde.org/Kexi/Handbook/Introduction_to_Databases/Database_and_Spreadsheet > Nothing revolutionary and can be further extended :) > > PS: And I am unsure why would the LV claim there's no client-server > architecture in such RAD tools if all database engines (but SQLite) > have always been client-server. Maybe it's about the app and GUI on > the server side? > > A good, easy to use front-end (like Kexi may become or MS Access sort > of is) would encourage more use of databases. > > I've been searching for a decent replacement for MS Access for ages > and still haven't found one. > > My fundamental requirement is soemthing like Access' table view that > allows very simple creation and updating of a table. I've yet to find > anything. > > Yes, sometimes I am looking into ways to make Kexi even simpler to > use, so if user wants it - it can be in the middle between a > spreadsheet and a db creation app. Ad-hoc creating table designs > (while entering the data) is one of the things, quite hard to > implement though. Interesting, after the idea came MSA (maybe 2003?) > added similar feature. > > But before it's reality we probably need to get reliable alter-table > feature to work. > > > What exact features of simple table creation do you mean? > > > I feel this middle ground between a spreadsheet and a db creation app is > incredibly important and will increase the value and use of Kexi among the > general linux user base exponentially. My estimation is the the majority of > potential Kexi users will be wanting it for this feature. That is what a > great number of Access users use Access for. These people are not terribly > technically inclined, and like the table format of Access better than a > spreadsheet format, for their purpose of storing text-based data. I am one > such person, and as a Linux user have been using Kexi for this middle ground > for several users-- although frankly it is far from satisfactory compared > with Access, due to lack of ability to alter the configuration or appearance > of a table after it has been created.
Yes, that's a #1 wish from many people [1] https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=125253 > > So in short, I agree with you Chris, that for this middle ground between a > spreadsheet and a db creation app, what I think you mean by the alter-table > feature, is more important than the simple table creation. Going into data > view to make the initial table is no big deal. But after the table is made, > then on the fly the following features are I think critically imporant: > > 1. Ability to create new rows and columns later on, in table view. > 2. Ability to rename columns later on. > 3. Ability to hide columns and rows in table view. > 4. Ability to move columns in table view. > 5. Ability to alter the number of characters allowed in a cell after the > table is made, without losing all the data. > 6. Ability to highlight and copy the cells of limited number of rows and > columns, i.e. a sub-section of the table. Of course physically creating table from scratch based on data the user entered is trivial. The points you listed are similar to the ones in the [1] wish. It's even known how to get there: https://community.kde.org/Kexi/Plugins/Tables/Simple_alter_table Just the development is more expensive than not :) > Some of these features may have already been implemented in your later > versions, as in Ubuntu I cannot upgrade to later versions (fixing this is > also incredibly needed). I am running version 2.8.5, although I would love > to be able to upgrade if there were a reasonable way to do so. Kexi 3 will be in separate repository and won't have too many dependencies of KDE frameworks. I do expect this will simplify preparation of binaries for most popular OSes like Krita has, distributed alternatively. Maybe this include some Linux packages -- contributions in this area is more than welcome. The goal is that user's will no longer be forced to stay with ancient versions -- this isn't freedom :) -- regards, Jaroslaw Staniek KDE: : A world-wide network of software engineers, artists, writers, translators : and facilitators committed to Free Software development - http://kde.org Calligra Suite: : A graphic art and office suite - http://calligra.org Kexi: : A visual database apps builder - http://calligra.org/kexi Qt Certified Specialist: : http://www.linkedin.com/in/jstaniek _______________________________________________ Kexi mailing list Kexi@kde.org https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kexi
