Re: XML and Databases and Excel, Oh My!

[graff]

One other possibility to think about: What does Excel offer you that you wouldn't be able to get via a basic web form? Another way to state the question is: How might the use of a web form simplify and/or enhance the project?

(Or, depending on your particular situation, maybe a basic Perl/Tk, Perl/Gtk or similar GUI app would be preferable to a web app.)

The point would be to get the end users into direct contact with the database, rather than bothering with external intermediate files. You could even add a table to the database to log all updates, so that you keep a revision history and can roll back if you want.

Depending on lots of factors, there are good reasons for both approaches (spreadsheet files vs. direct DB access).

[jedikaiti]

Actually, the main point of this project is to have the data in an easier-to-deal-with format for the end user. (A change to data in one place frequently requires changes to data in another table or two, etc, and having a process in place that will deal with the 6-digit ID number for you, rather than having to keep them all straight.) Another benefit is NOT changing the database directly, so that the likely changes can be compared to the current data before the changes are actually uploaded to the DB.

A web form may still work, although one nice thing about Excel is that I do have a base worksheet already that I can build on.

Thanks!