> they just sent me a question.... what if they need to split up families > later... adopting 8 children at once is a pretty good trick by itself, so > sometimes they send them out in smaller groups. And I actually remember a > family of kids that got split up 4 or 5 different ways till they got > homes. > Very Very sad stuff.
The "families" should never change, what you'd want to do is have another table, maybe "homes" or some such. Maybe a set-up like so: families: family_id family_mothers_maiden family_address family_date_admitted (or whatever, entered program) family_reason_admitted (or some such) familiy_members: family_member_id family_id person_id family_member_type (pulldown: mother, father, son, daughter) Maybe call it "biological family"? biological_families, biological_family_members? Then you'd have "homes" or some such, probably already in a DB somewhere. You could normalize more and stick with plain "families" and use them for both the "biological" families and the "adoption home" families, sorta like so: adoption_homes: home_ID family_ID then you'd have maybe: placements: person_id home_id placement_notes placement_status placement_date which you just constantly add to, and never delete from. Instead of deleting, you'd use the "status" to say if you were un-placing someone from a home, and why. This may need to be part of your business logic, like "you cannot place someone in a new home before un-placing them from their old one", as people tend to just enter data, but later on it might be a big deal if there is no history as to why the person was un-placed, etc.. This is usually a good point to make a ERD (a flowchart of the data, and how it's grouped... basically a "web" of info- if you ever had a teacher make you draw the big circle in the middle, and little circles around, with lines from related circles to related circles, it's pretty much that. Entity Relation Diagram is what I think ERD stands for). It's good because you can see what data can be "normalized" (like how you can use "families" for both the "adoption homes" and the adoptees.), and it helps a lot when you can visualize the flow of the info, vs. mentally having these structures to remember. Above all, really nail down as much of the requirements as possible, and I mean all the requirements - don't just talk with one person who is "in charge" or whatever. Many times there are state regulations about how and what data is collected. Be sure you talk with any involved agencies, and find out what their requirements are. It sounds like they are already piece-mealing you, which you need to break them of the habit of ASAP!!! Get them thinking about the big picture. Have them, from start to finish, visually create the steps that will be needed, document the info that needs gathering, etc.., BEFORE you get going. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of something or another. All this is only so doable, but it does help quite a bit. No matter what, requirements change, people remember a vital bit of info that needs to be added the day before the deadline, etc., etc.. Probably the hardest bit is getting people to visualize their information, vs. the forms they use to collect information. Usually the forms change when people realize the power of the database, and that they're dealing with information, and not hard copy forms one by one. It can take years for people to get into the mindset tho... I mock up of the proposed site before you start anything is a good idea as well (the proposed screens and information entry process). Whoops. Gotta wrangle a ride some where, so that's it for me. Holler if you have more questions, I've been down this road, I'll share what I've learned. I dig making the world a better place. [= :DeN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:238564 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
