D2

Throughout this unit we were asked to design and create a database for a film club. This I have done with the combination of mechanic's and tools that structured my database to the appointed design appropriately. All the functions all work effectively as shown in the P7 task.

We got all the data from external source, this allowed the foundations of the database to be constructed. The data consisted of all the members information i.e. first name, last name, but also retained information regarding the films they've seen and commented on. The first stage began with all the data gathered into a single table that had no order or structure, this was resolved with the use of the 'Append queries', that linked to the appropriate tables i.e. tbl_members, tbl_reviews, etc. this format allowed all of the data to be organised into four distinct groups and the append queries allowed the correct data (that was selected by the creator) into the correct places. If this function didn't work correctly the rest of the database would be total disarray.    

In this task we were asked to test the functionality of our own databases, which required us to compare our actual outcome of particular functions to the original intentions. The screen shot above reveals that my P7 task was complete with all functions working correctly.   

Even though my database works as a whole there are still improvements that were recommended to further improve my database, these improvements consisted of a 'Switchboard and forms for both Reviews and Payments'.

Switchboard
The switchboard is basically a form with a series of buttons scattered in an organised fashion, all these buttons will be linked to other forms. This form merely designed for faster navigation for members to make it a simple and easy process.

Payments form
The payments form would allow members to enter in their payments (amount and date of pay) for a particular film. This form follows the traditional trend for standard internet purchasing forms, to create this function a form would have to be created containing the correct entry information, this will be linked to a 'append query' will be linked to allow new data to be entered.

Review Form
This follows the same pattern that the payments form follows.

These were some of the major improvements that can be addressed whilst I was making my database, yet there are some little details that can help improve my database further. One of the changes that could be implemented is to remove the tool bars from screen whilst in use, so that anyone that has access to
your database cannot change it in any form and potentially ruin your work. This change can be done by changing the settings within the format.  Also I could of had the warning messages removed from my queries whilst they're in use, removing these messages makes data entry less of an inconvenience. The queries that allow new data to be appended shouldn't have a warning of the intended action, this is a requirement for standard databases for websites.