HiHerman,
Using Perl modules I can deliver a relational database frontend,
with the underlying storage in CSV format - so that if necessary,
users/administrators can use the raw data without exporting
explicitly.
I could use mySQL, but my main environment at home - and that of
potential users, generally - is Windows, and I don't think mySQL is
particularly easy to distribute/install. (Unless you know
different?) However, I will look at mySQL - you've got me
interested in this path...
Once the data is in the database, I can publish/export in XML/HTML
etc with ease (dangerous statement). I will probably use XML
internally, and XSLT (XSL stylesheets) to format the export formats,
to give flexibility on export formats, without having to recode the
application.
I know that Colin is intending to add XML publishing to Sailwave -
one thing I could do now is to take a BLW file and produce an XML
format file from it, if this would be of use to you. Of course, we
need to come up with a schema, for which Colin should, I think, be
involved.
James
--- In sailwave@yahoogroups.com, Herman van Beek <hvanbeek@c...>
wrote:
Hi James,
Sorry for the slow response - am busy getting ready for our
Midwinters
regatta in Florida next week.
A csv or tsv formatted file should work fine for interfacing to
Word
and Excel. However, in rereading the thread, I think there may be
an
expectation that much more would be delivered; i.e., a relational
database program. My next major push is to do just that - use
MySQL
(free) to hold all results, write Perl or PHP utilities to
manipulate
the data as needed, and then output to html templates for
displaying
results on the Web. In that environment, I would like a more
intelligent output format from Sailwave with tags (like XML)
because
over time I know I will be adding new parameters/criteria that
could/will obsolete the csv/tsv format and require reprogramming
of the
interface.
Would be interested to hear from others on this. It is
conceivable to
design such a system to work with Access on a PC instead of on a
Web
server running Unix or Linux.
Herman
James Lavery wrote:
> Hi Herman,
> I'm currently looking at a simple csv or tsv (tab-separated
format)
> for the actual data files - so that it's readable by Word/Excel
etc.
> if people want to 'do other things' with the data.
>
> However, I'm also happy to use XML for the storage, and/or
> publish/import in a 'standard' XML format (I code in Perl and XML
> daily at work). I'd be interested in your ideas on this front,
and
> would be happy to collaborate.
>
>
> James
>
> --- In sailwave@yahoogroups.com, "Herman van Beek"
<hvanbeek@c...>
> wrote:
> > Hi Colin,
> >
> > Great discussion and am keenly interested in outcome. My
interest
> is
> > from another perspective: the regatta organizers. I use Perl to
> create
> > about 20-30 on-line registrations per year for the MC scow
sailing
> > class (http://www.mcscow.org) <http://www.mcscow.org%29> and
use the
> information collected to
> > display a list of registrants, provide organizers with details
of
> > meals and other items ordered, and drive the population of
scoring
> > programs. I currently support four (4): Sailwave, St Pete
Scorer,
> > JavaScore, and one I wrote myself in Excel VB (MC Score); see
> > http://www.mcscow.org/regatta/ for a brief description of the
> system.
> > The interface becomes real messy when you have multiple
fleets. Of
> > the four, I've found JavaScore the simplest - it uses an XML
> format.
> >
> > Tracking the standings of competitors (I process about 50
regattas
> per
> > year involving 500-600 participants) is best handled by a
separate
> > database. And having, as others have already suggested,
> a "standard"
> > output format would make feeding that db a much more manageable
> task.
> > The XML approach offers the best of both worlds: the format is
> fixed
> > but the mark up language can be expanded to bring in new
features -
> > and it is easy to create as well as parse!
> >
> > Regards,
> > Herman
> >
> >
> >
> > --- In sailwave@yahoogroups.com, "steven_atkinson"
> > <Steve.Atkinson@w...> wrote:
> > > --- In sailwave@yahoogroups.com, "James Lavery"
<jlavery@b...>
> > wrote:
> > > > Hi Colin,
> > > > Thanks - I'm in danger of overloading as well, but this
seems a
> > good
> > > > thing to do.
> > > >
> > > > Notes on the file format would be useful - I can derive
most
> by
> > > > inspection, though. If you want to send it outside the
group
> > (i.e.
> > > > via email), that's fine.
> > > >
> > >
> > > I don't suppose you would consider making the file format
> > information
> > > public knowledge. I've toyed with the idea in the past of
writing
> > some
> > > perl or php so that I can just drop the .blw files straight
onto
> our
> > > club website and the cgi scripts display the information by
> parsing
> > > the file. I just quite fancy the idea of being able to do
some
> > > interactive stuff like display all the results for a
particular
> > boat,
> > > or display each race on a single page on it's own without
having
> to
> > > publish each race individually and things like that. I've
been a
> bit
> > > wary of doing the work in the past just in case the file
format
···
> > > changes much between versions of sailwave and I have to keep
> > updating
> > > my scripts.
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > > Steve Atkinson
> > > Carrickfergus Sailing Club
>
>
>
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--
____________________________________________________
Herman van Beek email: hvanbeek@c...
2816 Biscayne Drive phone: 972.596.9524
Plano, Texas 75075-7504 fax: 509.692.3503
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I keep a master .blw file for all the boats in our club.