An AppleWork Tip!
AppleWorks automatically saves your files every so often. It also tries to be helpful by locating recently opened documents. Unfortunately, the constant saving and searching for files can really slow things down fro users, and also bog down our already overworked computer network.
You are advised to turn these two features of AppleWorks OFF. To do this:
- Go to Edit…Preferences…General
- Under Topic, choose Files
- Locate the two boxes marked Auto-Save and Recent Items
- If there is an X in either of these two boxes, click the box to remove the X.
CRS 12 – Database Tips!
- You can alter the way that numbers and dates re displayed using the Layout….Layout menu item. Remember to double click on the item you want to change.
- Layout…Layout also allows you to change the amount of space that each field takes up. Boxes may be made longer or shorter, or thicker for large amounts of text.
- Layout…Browse takes you back to the “normal” mode where you can see your data, add records, or edit existing data.
- If you wish to edit the characteristics of a field, or add/delete fields, use the Layout…Define Fields menu item. For example, you might have a “Room” field defined as text when it should have been a number.
- When making a chart, consider using File…Page Setup to flip your page sideways. Do this before you make the chart! This will give you more space on each line.
- Add a header to your document in order to give it a title.
- Before printing your chart, use Format…Document to set each of your margins to at least 0.5 inches.
CRS 12 Data Base
A data base may be defined as a collection of interrelated data stored together without harmful or unnecessary redundancy to serve multiple applications; the data are stored so that they are independent of programs that use the data; a common and controlled approach is used in adding new data and in modifying and retrieving existing data within the data base. The data is structured so as to provide a foundation for future application development. One system is said to contain a collection of data bases if they are entirely separate in structure.
-James Martin (1977)
The term data base evolved in the late 1960’s. Before that, files and data sets were the norm. Then, as faster computers with more and more memory were developed and put into everyday use, the amount of data stored in these computers began to snowball. The former ways of saving, retrieving, and manipulating data became too slow and cumbersome to use, and the modern data base was developed.
For our purposes, a data base is a collection of related files, where each file is a collection of related records, and each record is a group of related fields with a unique key. This key must NOT be repeated in any other record in the entire data base, because the purpose of the key is to allow quick, easy, error-free access to one particular record.
Government, business and educational institutions have all overcome the problem of what to use for a key by “inventing” one for their own use. Social insurance numbers, driver’s license “master numbers, account numbers, and student ID numbers are hardly given a second thought in today’s information age.
Note that he definition of a data base given earlier mentions the importance of preparing for future uses. How foolish it would have been for the government to issue everyone with a 6-digit, rather than a 9-digit S.I.N., and think of the chaos which would result if our license plates had 4 letters and digits, instead of 6!
Example: Revenue Canada
Fields:S.I.N.123 456 789---KEY
NameHomer J. Simpson
AddressSpringfield, N.S.
SexM
SpouseMarge
Date of BirthApril 31, 1950
Marital StatusMarried
Number of Dependents4
OccupationSafety Inspector
EmployerSpringfield Nuclear Power Plant
Salary25 000
Phone Number555-2468
Related records, like that shown above, might be collected in a file, perhaps by town, county, or province. Then, all related files from across Canada could be stored together to form the data base.
CRS 12 – Data Base Query with AppleWorks
In your Macintosh Hard Disk there is an AppleWorks file containing data on our student population here at West Kings. You should drag this file to your space before opening it! The following fields have been defined, and most (but not all) records are complete:
- Name (Last, First, Middle)
- Birth Year (19##)
- Gender (male / female)
- Grade (7 – 12)
- Room (1 – 210)
- Teacher Name
The following are types of queries which should be answered by using the technique shown in class:
- Mr. Landry wants a list of all grads whose homerooms are not in the senior wing, sorted by homeroom.
- A hall monitor has been harassed by a male junior student who goes by the name Robert. This could be his first or middle name. Please provide an alphabetical suspect list!
- In preparation for grad activities, some students agree to phone all the parents to ask for their assistance. Andy offers to call the parents of all female grads with Aylesford phone numbers (847-) Please sort by phone number.
- A female grade ten student was “ratted on” by one of her friends after she stole Mr. Bunin’s lunch. All we know is that her homeroom is on the same level as the staff room. Please provide a list of suspects, sorted by homeroom.
- Mr. Ripley would like a list of students in his homeroom who live in the Kingston exchange (765-) with the boys and girls separated. (In other words, SORT y gender.)
- How many West Kings students share your first name?
- Lynn is a popular first and middle name for girls. Print a list, in alphabetical order, of all girls with Berwick (538-) phone numbers who have this name.
- The school nurse wants a list of all grade 10 students, sorted by homeroom, who will turn 16 in 2004.
- We know that Collins is a popular valley name. Our classmate agrees! Print a list, sorted by gender, of all the Collins at West Kings.
- KC has several “cousins’ attending WK…but some are obvious…who are they?
As demonstrated in class, make use of the FIND window, as well as the HIDE SELECTED and HIDE UNSELECTED commands, to narrow down the list.