Certainly planning as you go for a strictly personal data base can be done. It's just best done with the understanding that you may export the data into an improved data base structure you design in the future. It's also a good idea to document your first working structure and then document problems you discover that prompt you to improve the structure. Each time you do an improvement which may mean moving to a new version or changing an existing version, it's a good idea to document what you do too. This way you'll accumulate a journal of lessons learned as a result of your data base experience. Possibly in future when you design a completely different data base, you'll do things differently and have well documented reasons for doing so at that time. The extensive planning is only partly relevant for organizations and not even completely for them either. Large organizations have both official and unofficial data bases in use at any time. The unofficial data bases perhaps hold data in ways that are useful for what's held in them, but the technique for that unofficial data base for auditing requirements among others would not be acceptable for official data bases. As and when information is needed from unofficial data bases, it can be and is often shared from unofficial to official data bases as a one way process. The reverse is not true and the unofficial candidate data is cleaned up before it goes into the official data base if data base administrators are wise. Rot47: <;F56]52D9:6==@?2GJ]>:=> -----Original Message----- From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Homme, James Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 9:04 To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Planning A Database Hi, I got the book called Database Design For Mere Mortals. I liked it because it doesn't use jargon. It advocates planning the database as much as possible before you build it. Here's my question. Can you plan as you go? I'm asking because I'm not sure that I can figure out what all I need in my database. The learning curve is so steep that I'd like to break it down into small parts that I can bite off. Besides, the database is just for me, so I don't think I want to create the loads of documentation they advocate you create in the book. Does anyone have guiding thoughts on this? Thanks. Jim Jim Homme, Usability Services, Phone: 412-544-1810 Skype: jim.homme Internal recipients, Read my accessibility blog This e-mail and any attachments to it are confidential and are intended solely for use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately and then delete it. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not keep, use, disclose, copy or distribute this e-mail without the author's prior permission. The views expressed in this e-mail message do not necessarily represent the views of Highmark Inc., its subsidiaries, or affiliates. __________ View the list's information and change your settings at //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind __________ View the list's information and change your settings at //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind