Bill Rising wrote: >... or at least something other than a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets are a >fanastically easy tool to use (at first) which are fantastically >dangerous because of their structure. > >Advantages of spreadsheets: >-------------------------- > >. No time to set up - just start typing. >. Live updating on calculations. (which typically is not a database >function...) >. Easy to comprehend. > >Advantages of databases >(even something as simple as the database in AppleWorks) >-------------------------------------------------------- > >. Data validity checks. (Can be done in Excel but can easily be fooled or >ignored.) >. Data record integrity - each 'record' (corresponding to a row in a >spreadsheet) is kept intact through all operations. The same cannot be >said of spreadsheets, since their basic data unit is a cell. So... if you >are not careful, it is possible when sorting to mix together data from >different rows, completely destroying the dataset. Trust me, this happens >too often when folks use Excel to manage data. >. Other views of the data, such as forms. This sounds like a feeble >advantage, except that it can greatly speed data entry and data checking >if the form is made to have visual cues (e.g. made to look like the paper >form which is being entered). > >Spreadsheets are made for computation. Databases are made to keep track >of data. It is easy to move the information from one to the other. So... >I'd come down really hard on the side of even a cheap one-table (a la >AppleWorks) database over any spreadsheet application. > >Bill > > > Hi Bill
Much of what you say about spreadsheets is true, but once you get past the basics, there's no comparison to a database program. Even with a half-way decent spreadsheet program like AppleWorks, you can make your own software. Something you can't do with a database. As for data validity checks, you can make the whole spreadsheet go blank if you want to, when bad data is entered. And that can't be ignored. When it comes to sorting, that's much of what you do with databases, but you can eliminate sorting with a spreadsheet if you want to. I have a whole bunch of AppleWorks spreadsheets at my web site that do all sorts of things. The one called Checkbook has a few Quicken features including categories. If you enter an improper category or subcategory, a dialog box alerts you. I could have just as easily made the spreadsheet go blank. The only problem with that is, what do you do next? But there are other ways to stop the action until the error is corrected. However, since everyone has their favorite, go with whatever makes you more comfortable and confident. -- Tony LaFemina When you want to do more than just buy software http://hometown.aol.com/visitmacland/index.html mailto:remacs at optonline.net | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will | be August 26. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. | This list's page is <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup>.
