[ForestryTools] database/ early design

[Jake Maier]

Lee

I understood your point, and I agree with it. It is not only that we want to
have something presentable soon (that’s one good point) but also that when
we use a database design some not so computer savvy people may be throwing
the towel. So starting with a simple table design (csv) would be easier for
some. And as we get more experience and more complex in the design than we
still can easily switch to a database design. I think it would also be good
to maintain a version with just excel files, (xlsx) in addition to database
files because many don’t have and don’t know database software.

J

 

From: Lee [mailto:muellerl at gmail.com] 
Sent: Sunday, June 02, 2013 4:07 PM
To: Jake Maier
Cc: ForestryTools List
Subject: Re: [ForestryTools] database/ early design

 

To clarify, my thoughts are not targetted towards the long-term
use/feasibility of using tables/csv verses database. In the long term,
databases will be necessary to handle more complex data for a variety of
users. That said, I do think it is important we get something usable going
as soon as possible to attract further interest. In this sense, I wondered
if we'd be able to short-cut around some of the database design for the time
being by using simple joins between table data and spatial data.

In this case, I'm in no way an expert. It just might be worth discussion.





--
All the best,
Lee
ISA Certified Arborist MI-4148A
Registered Forester #46043

 

On Fri, May 31, 2013 at 7:02 PM, Jake Maier <j.m at jmforestry.com> wrote:

Hi Lee and Abdoul.

I think a simple table is easier if it’s a simple relationship between the
spatial and the tabular data. If the relationships are complex and changes
often depending on the particular situation, then a database is quicker and
easier.

Thanks for your good work.

My 2 ct

Jake 

 

From: forestrytools-bounces at lists.osgeo.org
[mailto:forestrytools-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Abdoul O. Dia
Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 3:03 PM
To: forestrytools at lists.osgeo.org
Subject: Re: [ForestryTools] database/ early design

 

Hi Lee,

This could be a way to start and test it. But we need to keep in mind that
we'll need to handle external files (e.g. csv) and to manage spatial data
(e.g.: vectors). The relationship between the external and spatial data
should be kept some how so we can attribute to every single point or
polygone in a shapefile its related data from the field. In this case I
think using a database would be easier. What others think?

Abdoul


Le 2013-05-30 18:20, Lee a écrit :

To not flood the other string with a new topic, here's a new email:

I had a long drive the other day, which gave me a good chance to think
things over regarding the database structure. Specifically, my current
"narrative" I put on the forestry tools wiki calls for just loading external
CSVs to do easy analysis, rather than porting into a database.

How do you feel about establishing initial functionality with simple tables,
opposed to database structure? Once we get an initial release out and
develop some interest, we could add more complex database support.

I'm not sold either way, I just thought it might be worth discussion. I'm
not sure what's simpler and more useful from a starting location.

Thoughts?


--
All the best,
Lee
ISA Certified Arborist MI-4148A
Registered Forester #46043





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