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tagging indexing software Information request



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 27th 14, 05:19 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-8
Keith Nuttle
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,844
Default tagging indexing software Information request

I have a lot of files that are in one folder and many subfolders on my
hard drive. The files are principally *.pdf, *.wpd, *.jpg and similar
files. While the subfolders categorize the files, there are time when
I am looking for a specific file.

As an example, If I have a jpg image of a file that is a map that shows
the location of a piece of property. I would like to tag the file with
the name of the person who owned the file and the names of other people
associated with the file. Information that would not be in the jpg
file, and more information than can be put into the file name.

Is there a piece of software that will index the files in a folder and
sub folders, and then allow the attachment of a summary of the
information in the file.

Then allow me to search on file names or on information contained in the
summary.



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  #2  
Old November 27th 14, 07:35 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-8
Bill[_40_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 346
Default tagging indexing software Information request

In message , Keith Nuttle
writes
Is there a piece of software that will index the files in a folder and
sub folders, and then allow the attachment of a summary of the
information in the file.


This sounds similar to the sort of thing I've been looking for for many
years in order to manage masses of audio and video files that exist in
multiple formats and state-of-editing versions.
In spite of asking, admittedly for something free, I haven't actually
found anything that works.
Meanwhile I'm just entering data into a MySQL database in the hope that
one day I'll find something to dump it into or to act as a decent front
end.

I've had a few goes at writing some front-end software myself, but
always run into problems and out of time.

Interestingly, a writer friend who has masses of research files and
files of his output in different states (eg aimed at different
publishing markets) and formats has a similar need.

I think some of the broadcast automation systems have database driven
formats that do something like this, but in a very limited way.

In other words - sorry, I can't help. :-)
--
Bill
  #3  
Old November 27th 14, 08:10 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-8
Ken Springer[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,817
Default tagging indexing software Information request

On 11/27/14 9:19 AM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
I have a lot of files that are in one folder and many subfolders on my
hard drive. The files are principally *.pdf, *.wpd, *.jpg and similar
files. While the subfolders categorize the files, there are time when
I am looking for a specific file.

As an example, If I have a jpg image of a file that is a map that shows
the location of a piece of property. I would like to tag the file with
the name of the person who owned the file and the names of other people
associated with the file. Information that would not be in the jpg
file, and more information than can be put into the file name.

Is there a piece of software that will index the files in a folder and
sub folders, and then allow the attachment of a summary of the
information in the file.

Then allow me to search on file names or on information contained in the
summary.


Hi, Keith,

Not enough information here for me to be sure, but I think I have a way
to make libraries do this, or at least something similar.

Provided the needs are relatively simple.

I suspect most readers will tell you I'm out of my mind, but some simple
testing some months ago at least proved the concept.

If you don't want to divulge too many details, send email. :-)


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 25.0
Thunderbird 24.6.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"
  #4  
Old November 27th 14, 08:56 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-8
Keith Nuttle
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,844
Default tagging indexing software Information request

On 11/27/2014 2:10 PM, Ken Springer wrote:
Hi, Keith,

Not enough information here for me to be sure, but I think I have a way
to make libraries do this, or at least something similar.

Provided the needs are relatively simple.

I suspect most readers will tell you I'm out of my mind, but some simple
testing some months ago at least proved the concept.

If you don't want to divulge too many details, send email. :-)


--

I am working on the history of my families. I currently have eight
folders for my wife and my grandparents. Each of these folders have a
folder for at least four married-in families. Each folder has four
basic sub folders, Pictures, burials, documents, and census. Plus each
folder will have additional sub folders as needed to organize the data.

I currently have nearly 8GB data in nearly 6500 files and contained in
nearly 250 individual folders.

I will use this morning search as an example of the need. I had
previously researched and saved the original plat map of Perrysburg Ohio
with the lots of several families identified. It was saved in a folder
where it logically should be saved from the point of view that I had
been working.

This morning I needed the map and was approaching it from a different
angle that was outside of the original logic that it was filed. It took
me about 15 minutes looking in many different folders trying to find the
file.

It would have been nice to been able to type in "William Nuttle lot" and
find the Perrysburg Plat map that shows the location of William Nuttle's
lot. When the file was displayed open it from the index system.


  #5  
Old November 28th 14, 02:23 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-8
mick
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 370
Default tagging indexing software Information request

On 27/11/2014 16:19:22, Keith Nuttle wrote:
I have a lot of files that are in one folder and many subfolders on my hard
drive. The files are principally *.pdf, *.wpd, *.jpg and similar files.
While the subfolders categorize the files, there are time when I am looking
for a specific file.

As an example, If I have a jpg image of a file that is a map that shows the
location of a piece of property. I would like to tag the file with the name
of the person who owned the file and the names of other people associated
with the file. Information that would not be in the jpg file, and more
information than can be put into the file name.

Is there a piece of software that will index the files in a folder and sub
folders, and then allow the attachment of a summary of the information in the
file.

Then allow me to search on file names or on information contained in the
summary.


have a look to see if this might help
http://www.tagspaces.org/

--
mick
  #6  
Old November 28th 14, 03:25 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-8
Keith Nuttle
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,844
Default tagging indexing software Information request

On 11/28/2014 8:23 AM, mick wrote:
On 27/11/2014 16:19:22, Keith Nuttle wrote:
I have a lot of files that are in one folder and many subfolders on my
hard drive. The files are principally *.pdf, *.wpd, *.jpg and similar
files. While the subfolders categorize the files, there are time when
I am looking for a specific file.

As an example, If I have a jpg image of a file that is a map that
shows the location of a piece of property. I would like to tag the
file with the name of the person who owned the file and the names of
other people associated with the file. Information that would not be
in the jpg file, and more information than can be put into the file name.

Is there a piece of software that will index the files in a folder and
sub folders, and then allow the attachment of a summary of the
information in the file.

Then allow me to search on file names or on information contained in
the summary.


have a look to see if this might help
http://www.tagspaces.org/

Have you used the Tagspaces. If so you may be able to answer a question
that was not clear on the website.

From the information on the website, it appears you can define tags and
then attach them to the files in the directory. I was looking for
something with more free form tags.

I could define a tag for each surname in the genealogy database, and
then define a tag for common events like occupation, residence, wills,
deeds, etc.. But I have over 500 surnames and nearly 1800 people in the
database. Unless I am missing something I would end up with at least
500+ tags that I would have to maintain.

As I said I was looking for something more searchable, as for one file
the tagged information may be "locations of of the William and John
homes in Perysburg".

The sequentially next file may be "Deed for the sale of lot 51 in
Perrysburg transferred from John Deceased to Thomas".

The third file may be "John's Will where he leaves his properties to his
6 sons" (insert six names),

Etc.








  #7  
Old November 28th 14, 03:55 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-8
mick
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 370
Default tagging indexing software Information request

On 28/11/2014 14:25:25, Keith Nuttle wrote:
On 11/28/2014 8:23 AM, mick wrote:
On 27/11/2014 16:19:22, Keith Nuttle wrote:
I have a lot of files that are in one folder and many subfolders on my
hard drive. The files are principally *.pdf, *.wpd, *.jpg and similar
files. While the subfolders categorize the files, there are time when
I am looking for a specific file.

As an example, If I have a jpg image of a file that is a map that
shows the location of a piece of property. I would like to tag the
file with the name of the person who owned the file and the names of
other people associated with the file. Information that would not be
in the jpg file, and more information than can be put into the file name.

Is there a piece of software that will index the files in a folder and
sub folders, and then allow the attachment of a summary of the
information in the file.

Then allow me to search on file names or on information contained in
the summary.


have a look to see if this might help
http://www.tagspaces.org/

Have you used the Tagspaces. If so you may be able to answer a question that
was not clear on the website.

From the information on the website, it appears you can define tags and then
attach them to the files in the directory. I was looking for something with
more free form tags.

I could define a tag for each surname in the genealogy database, and then
define a tag for common events like occupation, residence, wills, deeds,
etc.. But I have over 500 surnames and nearly 1800 people in the database.
Unless I am missing something I would end up with at least 500+ tags that I
would have to maintain.

As I said I was looking for something more searchable, as for one file the
tagged information may be "locations of of the William and John homes in
Perysburg".

The sequentially next file may be "Deed for the sale of lot 51 in Perrysburg
transferred from John Deceased to Thomas".

The third file may be "John's Will where he leaves his properties to his 6
sons" (insert six names),

Etc.


No I have not used Tagspaces.
Perhaps you need to change to a different Genealogy software.
Might be worthwhile asking on genealogy groups if a particular software
will meet your needs better than the current one you use.

--
mick
  #8  
Old November 28th 14, 06:38 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-8
Ken Springer[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,817
Default tagging indexing software Information request

On 11/27/14 12:56 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
On 11/27/2014 2:10 PM, Ken Springer wrote:
Hi, Keith,

Not enough information here for me to be sure, but I think I have a way
to make libraries do this, or at least something similar.

Provided the needs are relatively simple.

I suspect most readers will tell you I'm out of my mind, but some simple
testing some months ago at least proved the concept.

If you don't want to divulge too many details, send email. :-)


--

I am working on the history of my families. I currently have eight
folders for my wife and my grandparents. Each of these folders have a
folder for at least four married-in families. Each folder has four
basic sub folders, Pictures, burials, documents, and census. Plus each
folder will have additional sub folders as needed to organize the data.

I currently have nearly 8GB data in nearly 6500 files and contained in
nearly 250 individual folders.

I will use this morning search as an example of the need. I had
previously researched and saved the original plat map of Perrysburg Ohio
with the lots of several families identified. It was saved in a folder
where it logically should be saved from the point of view that I had
been working.

This morning I needed the map and was approaching it from a different
angle that was outside of the original logic that it was filed. It took
me about 15 minutes looking in many different folders trying to find the
file.

It would have been nice to been able to type in "William Nuttle lot" and
find the Perrysburg Plat map that shows the location of William Nuttle's
lot. When the file was displayed open it from the index system.


Before getting into libraries, would a genealogy program do what you
want? I'm thinking of a standalone program like Family Tree Maker,
which I think has evolved into Ancestry.com. I'm not into this, so have
no idea as to the sophistication and abilities of these programs.

-----------------------

You might be able to make (aka force) libraries do what you want.

Caveat... The proof of concept testing I did was in Windows 7, I've not
tested in Windows 8 yet.

My project involves the history of the area, and to deduce the accuracy
of old books (kind of Sherlock Holmes-ish LOL), newspaper articles,
etc., you need to study old photos.

Collecting the old photos is my starting point, and obviously there will
be a huge variety of information you can glean. Which railroad is that?
Which mine or mines in the background? Which town is that? Who is in
the photo? And on and on.

The problem with using a separate database type program is when you
share the information, in this example a photo, with someone else, all
that information in the database is not automatically included. You
have to export the additional data, or the whole database to the other
person or persons, and they have to be able to access it.

Photos, and a lot of other file types, have metadata embedded into the
file. There is one field that is essentially a comments section.
Windows calls them tags, but it's a part of the EXIF data, and there's
another term for the field that escapes me at the moment. You can find
those tags using Photo Gallery/Photo Viewer/ whatever MS has called it
in Windows 8. Or Irfanview, probably FastStone Image Viewer, and who
knows how many others. View the file, add the information to the tags,
save. FWIW, this step looks to be more easily done in OS X than in
Windows. But that's another subject. G

Once done, the photos go into custom libraries for a basic sort, or you
can just search on the tags field.

Custom libraries are the key here. And the way MS does libraries as the
default, and the way I've seen everyone else explain them, won't work.

An example: Let's take one of my photos. A group of mines in
Someplaceville, mine owners, a train with locomotive, well known
individuals, and who knows what else. Access the tags metadata field,
and input the name of the mine(s), the individuals, name of the town,
name of the railroad, whatever I think I may want to search on later.
Do this for all the photos I have. Eventually expanding this to text
quotes and other reference materials.

Now you need to sort/index by the information in the tags. And you want
multiple groupings, one for mines, one for towns, one for railroads, one
for whatever. The old way you would make copies of the files, and group
them on the hard drive. You could end up with 15 copies of the same
photo! And if you clean up one, you have to clean up all or replace all
of them.

If you're like me, you already have some sort of organization on your
hard drive. So I'll likely have photos with mines in them spread across
multiple directories. But my goal is to have a library with just photos
showing mines, another for railroads, etc. But that can't be done when
the photos are spread across directories that have photos that do not
include mines. That's due to the fact you cannot selectively add files
from a directory to a library, you have to include everything in the
directory.

I'll create custom libraries. Let's say a library for mines, a library
for railroads, depots, individuals, towns, whatever I want to sort on.

Next, somewhere on your data drive, create a folder for each library you
just created.

Start filtering your files in whatever manner you wish, in my case I'll
look for all files that have mines in the tags. Create a shortcut for
each of those files, and move the shortcuts to the mines folder.

Open the mines library, and add just the mines folder with the
shortcuts. Now, you'll have all photos that have mines in the tags,
even though the actual files are spread across multiple directories, and
you'll have selectively displayed only the files you want from any
directory.

Probably sounds like a lot more work than I think it will be. G

Hope all of that makes sense, ask for clarification if needed. :-)

--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 25.0
Thunderbird 24.6.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"
  #9  
Old November 29th 14, 02:10 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-8
Bill[_40_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 346
Default tagging indexing software Information request

In message , Ken Springer
writes
The problem with using a separate database type program is when you
share the information, in this example a photo, with someone else, all
that information in the database is not automatically included. You
have to export the additional data, or the whole database to the other
person or persons, and they have to be able to access it.


I am not sure that this is correct from my, music based, point of view.
(I am a bit worried that it might look as if I'm trying to hijack the
thread, but hope I'm adding to the discussion in a vaguely useful way).

The music I need to have organised is mainly things I have recorded.
They exist in computer form as wave files (which include metadata),
mp3's, mp2's and some other formats, a few with video. I've also got
stuff that has yet to be 'computerised'. This is on reel to reel,
cassette, DAT and various other formats, some in pre-mixdown state. I'm
basically trying to work through everything to put it into CD-sized
chunks which can be stored on CD's and on backed-up PC's.

The wav metadata is not consistent, as it evolved over the years, and
the information about the musicians is vague and inconsistent. I'm
trying to do this mainly for my own interest, but occasionally I get
sudden requests for audio from a radio station, usually on the death of
some local musical personality.

What I was really hoping would be possible was to create directories of
the finished PC audio and gradually gather together a database listing
the address of the audio, metadata about dates, performers, where
recorded, copyright etc., and also physical info about where the audio
or video came from and still exists ( eg DAT 376, Reel 1000 etc. or a
reference to who has the original tapes).

As I say, I've been putting this into a MySQL database. I had hoped that
this could be accessed via something like Open Office, which might then
be able to pull out standard sets of info for display or put into, say,
pdf form. If a local musician dies and I get a call, it has been a
nightmare trying to remember what he or she has recorded, so it would be
good to be able to pull together a CD of audio and a nice printed info
sheet overnight.

It's the front end that has always been the problem. I start, hit one
problem after another and always end up thinking I'll come back to it
later, by which time I can't remember exactly what I was doing or where
I got up to.

About 10 years ago, the local university offered evening classes in
MySQL and I applied to join every year for three years. Each time the
course was cancelled for lack of interest and then they gave up.
--
Bill
  #10  
Old November 29th 14, 02:18 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-8
Keith Nuttle
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,844
Default tagging indexing software Information request

On 11/29/2014 8:10 AM, Bill wrote:
In message , Ken Springer
writes
The problem with using a separate database type program is when you
share the information, in this example a photo, with someone else, all
that information in the database is not automatically included. You
have to export the additional data, or the whole database to the other
person or persons, and they have to be able to access it.


I am not sure that this is correct from my, music based, point of view.
(I am a bit worried that it might look as if I'm trying to hijack the
thread, but hope I'm adding to the discussion in a vaguely useful way).

The music I need to have organised is mainly things I have recorded.
They exist in computer form as wave files (which include metadata),
mp3's, mp2's and some other formats, a few with video. I've also got
stuff that has yet to be 'computerised'. This is on reel to reel,
cassette, DAT and various other formats, some in pre-mixdown state. I'm
basically trying to work through everything to put it into CD-sized
chunks which can be stored on CD's and on backed-up PC's.

The wav metadata is not consistent, as it evolved over the years, and
the information about the musicians is vague and inconsistent. I'm
trying to do this mainly for my own interest, but occasionally I get
sudden requests for audio from a radio station, usually on the death of
some local musical personality.

What I was really hoping would be possible was to create directories of
the finished PC audio and gradually gather together a database listing
the address of the audio, metadata about dates, performers, where
recorded, copyright etc., and also physical info about where the audio
or video came from and still exists ( eg DAT 376, Reel 1000 etc. or a
reference to who has the original tapes).

As I say, I've been putting this into a MySQL database. I had hoped that
this could be accessed via something like Open Office, which might then
be able to pull out standard sets of info for display or put into, say,
pdf form. If a local musician dies and I get a call, it has been a
nightmare trying to remember what he or she has recorded, so it would be
good to be able to pull together a CD of audio and a nice printed info
sheet overnight.

It's the front end that has always been the problem. I start, hit one
problem after another and always end up thinking I'll come back to it
later, by which time I can't remember exactly what I was doing or where
I got up to.

About 10 years ago, the local university offered evening classes in
MySQL and I applied to join every year for three years. Each time the
course was cancelled for lack of interest and then they gave up.

OP While the music is not genealogy, it sounds like you are looking for
a system for your music files as I am looking for my genealogical data.

A system that lets you add a summary of the information in the file, and
then being able to search the summaries to find the file you are looking
for.
  #11  
Old November 29th 14, 04:28 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-8
Neil Gould[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 167
Default tagging indexing software Information request

Keith Nuttle wrote:
On 11/29/2014 8:10 AM, Bill wrote:
In message , Ken Springer
writes
The problem with using a separate database type program is when you
share the information, in this example a photo, with someone else,
all that information in the database is not automatically included.
You have to export the additional data, or the whole database to
the other person or persons, and they have to be able to access it.


I am not sure that this is correct from my, music based, point of
view. (I am a bit worried that it might look as if I'm trying to
hijack the thread, but hope I'm adding to the discussion in a
vaguely useful way).

The music I need to have organised is mainly things I have recorded.
They exist in computer form as wave files (which include metadata),
mp3's, mp2's and some other formats, a few with video. I've also got
stuff that has yet to be 'computerised'. This is on reel to reel,
cassette, DAT and various other formats, some in pre-mixdown state.
I'm basically trying to work through everything to put it into
CD-sized chunks which can be stored on CD's and on backed-up PC's.

The wav metadata is not consistent, as it evolved over the years, and
the information about the musicians is vague and inconsistent. I'm
trying to do this mainly for my own interest, but occasionally I get
sudden requests for audio from a radio station, usually on the death
of some local musical personality.

What I was really hoping would be possible was to create directories
of the finished PC audio and gradually gather together a database
listing the address of the audio, metadata about dates, performers,
where recorded, copyright etc., and also physical info about where
the audio or video came from and still exists ( eg DAT 376, Reel
1000 etc. or a reference to who has the original tapes).

As I say, I've been putting this into a MySQL database. I had hoped
that this could be accessed via something like Open Office, which
might then be able to pull out standard sets of info for display or
put into, say, pdf form. If a local musician dies and I get a call,
it has been a nightmare trying to remember what he or she has
recorded, so it would be good to be able to pull together a CD of
audio and a nice printed info sheet overnight.

It's the front end that has always been the problem. I start, hit one
problem after another and always end up thinking I'll come back to it
later, by which time I can't remember exactly what I was doing or
where I got up to.

About 10 years ago, the local university offered evening classes in
MySQL and I applied to join every year for three years. Each time the
course was cancelled for lack of interest and then they gave up.

OP While the music is not genealogy, it sounds like you are looking
for a system for your music files as I am looking for my genealogical
data.

A system that lets you add a summary of the information in the file,
and then being able to search the summaries to find the file you are
looking for.

Both of you are looking in the right place, since this is exactly the kind
of structure that a well-designed database app can handle. It's that "free"
thing that might keep you both from your goal.

Bill; add up the time you spent trying to get MySQL set up to your needs,
multiply by minimum wage, and ask yourself whether you'd pay that much for
something that can be used to log your music "right out of the box"?

Keith; I still don't understand why apps like Family Tree Maker are
inadequate for your needs. My wife has been using it for over a decade to do
pretty much what you've described, and more. It's pretty cheap, IMO.

--
best regards,

Neil



  #12  
Old November 29th 14, 08:44 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-8
Gene E. Bloch[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 7,485
Default tagging indexing software Information request

On Sat, 29 Nov 2014 13:10:13 +0000, Bill wrote:

About 10 years ago, the local university offered evening classes in
MySQL and I applied to join every year for three years. Each time the
course was cancelled for lack of interest and then they gave up.


You might be ahead of the game.

I took such a course from a nearby Junior College. It was very badly
taught, so whatever I learned was from reading the (not very good)
textbook and by experimentation following that.

It turned out that what I mostly learned (and this is not meant to be
humor) is that database stuff is very difficult.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that if there is a good guide book to
SQL programming, it might work better than a course.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)
  #13  
Old November 30th 14, 07:22 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-8
Bill[_40_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 346
Default tagging indexing software Information request

In message , Gene E. Bloch
writes
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that if there is a good guide book to
SQL programming, it might work better than a course.


I have some SQL books, so you might have inspired me to have another go
at this, but starting from the SQL end rather than the gui end.

My history with databases is dreadful. I started with flat databases
that worked OK, then I got the company I worked for to order me a copy
of DBase2, but they were too clever and so DBase4 arrived. I used it,
but kept hitting problems

Then I moved to Access, which worked OK till I tried to access it via
VC++, which insisted on a later format that broke everything. So I
repaired the Access database, but for newer stuff moved to Borland C++
Builder and MySQL, but never got them to mesh enough to do anything
useful. That's when I started the main music database concept.

Then my valid registration for C++ Builder got royally screwed because
Borland disappeared and my upgrade registrations stopped working. I can
still use Builder but only by loading an image of a dead laptop into a
virtual machine.

This has led me to the current position where I try to use as much free
and open stuff as possible, but on Windows machines to keep it in the
mainstream.

Oh and my much earlier expedition into C++ was with a paid-for Symantec
C++. It was only much later that I discovered that others had found it
was broken, too, so it wasn't just me being stupid.

The C++ element is mainly because I have routines in that to pull and
push metadata to files, and it seemed sensible to try to assemble just
one program to do all this.

Neil: If there is a paid for program that is flexible enough to do what
I want, I haven't found it yet. I do some assisting at a small business
that uses locally written paid-for CRM software. It stops working every
time Windows, their anti-virus or Office (which does the letters)
changes and the original company has disappeared. It took me a long time
to track down the person from that company who actually wrote the
software. I opted out and got the business to deal directly with him.

Anyway, I'll go and look on the bookshelf.
--
Bill
  #14  
Old November 30th 14, 08:26 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-8
Neil
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Posts: 714
Default tagging indexing software Information request

On 11/30/2014 1:22 PM, Bill wrote:

Neil: If there is a paid for program that is flexible enough to do what
I want, I haven't found it yet. I do some assisting at a small business
that uses locally written paid-for CRM software. It stops working every
time Windows, their anti-virus or Office (which does the letters)
changes and the original company has disappeared. It took me a long time
to track down the person from that company who actually wrote the
software. I opted out and got the business to deal directly with him.

Unlike Gene's situation, I doubt that there is an off-the shelf product
that will meet all of your needs because they're rather unusual outside
of a professional setting such as radio stations or music warehouses.

However, from what you've written, it doesn't sound all that complex,
and perhaps you could just use some help from someone who knows
relational database design. I don't really think that the database
engine is as critical as the overall design in your case. Even Access
should be capable of handling your project unless you plan to have a few
million records in one or more of the data tables. I'd probably go with
MS-SQL, given the gyrations that MySQL has been undergoing for the last
few years. It's strongest attraction is its price, IMO.

--
best regards,

Neil
  #15  
Old December 1st 14, 12:09 AM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-8
Gene E. Bloch[_2_]
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Posts: 7,485
Default tagging indexing software Information request

On Sun, 30 Nov 2014 18:22:06 +0000, Bill wrote:

In message , Gene E. Bloch
writes
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that if there is a good guide book to
SQL programming, it might work better than a course.


I have some SQL books, so you might have inspired me to have another go
at this, but starting from the SQL end rather than the gui end.

My history with databases is dreadful. I started with flat databases
that worked OK, then I got the company I worked for to order me a copy
of DBase2, but they were too clever and so DBase4 arrived. I used it,
but kept hitting problems

Then I moved to Access, which worked OK till I tried to access it via
VC++, which insisted on a later format that broke everything. So I
repaired the Access database, but for newer stuff moved to Borland C++
Builder and MySQL, but never got them to mesh enough to do anything
useful. That's when I started the main music database concept.

Then my valid registration for C++ Builder got royally screwed because
Borland disappeared and my upgrade registrations stopped working. I can
still use Builder but only by loading an image of a dead laptop into a
virtual machine.

This has led me to the current position where I try to use as much free
and open stuff as possible, but on Windows machines to keep it in the
mainstream.

Oh and my much earlier expedition into C++ was with a paid-for Symantec
C++. It was only much later that I discovered that others had found it
was broken, too, so it wasn't just me being stupid.

The C++ element is mainly because I have routines in that to pull and
push metadata to files, and it seemed sensible to try to assemble just
one program to do all this.

Neil: If there is a paid for program that is flexible enough to do what
I want, I haven't found it yet. I do some assisting at a small business
that uses locally written paid-for CRM software. It stops working every
time Windows, their anti-virus or Office (which does the letters)
changes and the original company has disappeared. It took me a long time
to track down the person from that company who actually wrote the
software. I opted out and got the business to deal directly with him.

Anyway, I'll go and look on the bookshelf.


I keep thinking that just for some intellectual fun I might play with
relational databases via SQL or dBase (I have Office 2003 :-) ), but
you're not doing much to encourage me :-)

I wouldn't be trying to access stuff from a program, so your
compatibility problems wouldn't be an issue for me.

But suddenly, as I was composing this reply I got this thought: is there
a Java interface into SQL or other data base stuff? I have no idea, but
if there is and it works, then the price is probably right.

I don't find Java (or Android) programming especially easy compared to C
or VB, but at least it is doable.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)
 




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