More Database Stuff
I know this is supposed to be a blog about taking apart a car, but so far it’s been more about building a website. C’est la vie. Here’s more of the same.
I got to thinking about that whole “use the WordPress term/tag tables” thing I was talking about and am now considering expanding the idea: what if I write the database access as a WordPress plug-in? Then I can use the WordPress Dashboard to enter data, and the whole thing will be more tightly integrated with WordPress. I think it’s a win-win. Plus, I get to explore building a proper plug-in in addition to brushing up [er ... relearning] MySQL.
The Basics of Database Building
I’ve long been wrestling with what I want the ReSassy database to do. So far it’s congealed into the following goals:
- I want to track each piece of Sassy.
- I want to be able to summarize data from anywhere on a hierarchy of sub-assemblies.
- I want to be able to summarize data from a dynamic list of characteristics (“parts made of plastic”, “parts that were recycled”, “after-market parts” etc.)
- I want to track all the parts by weight and compare to the total actual weight and the 2094 pound curb weight. I want to be able to enter weight in whatever unit is convenient.
- I want to track financial exchanges for each part: either how much it was sold for, or how much it cost me to get rid of it.
- I want to note where a part will likely end up at the end of its useful lifetime, and to rank its utility during that lifetime and its value or destructiveness after that lifetime.