EduTel's RoadKill Database Software

Programming News

Note: It would be a good idea to print a hard copy of this page for later reference. Once you have logged into the database it will come in handy!

Exporting Your Data

This is a feature that we think will be very handy in data-driven projects. Basically this script will allow you to search on a particular field of data and then export the results of your search directly to a comma-separated text file. You can then copy this file from your browser to your local computer to be used in spreadsheet or other database applications (such as Filemaker Pro). Below you will find the directions for three popular versions of software.

To export your selected data you need to do the following:

First - go to the "View" menu of the database. You will see a blank input form for all of the fields of the DB. and if you want to view the entire DB all you need to do is place an * (asterisk) in one of the fields. This will default the search engine to return all available records. If you are searching for one particular type of field you can select that by typing in your request/query to that field in the search window.

Second - you will notice that there are three buttons at the bottom of your search form (Export Results - View Records - Reset Form). You need to view the records before you export them so just click on the View Records button. After viewing them if you want to export the data, all you need to do is use the back button of your browser (this will take you directly back to the search form you used) and then click on the Export Results button. You will be taken to a new web page that gives you a "clickable" link to the the data. Once you click on that, the data will appear in your browser window in comma-separated format. All you need to do now is save that file to your local computer and read below for the sample software that are discussed.

AppleWorks 6.0

First - download the desired data sets and save them to your local computer as outlined in the protocol above.

Second - open this file with your ClarisWorks application in the Word Processing format. Under the Edit menu select Find/Change and type a comma (,) in the find field and \t (that's backslash t) which is the Claris intrepretation for Tab in the change field. Click on the Change All button and all of your commas will be replaced with tabs.

Third - all you have to do now is copy the new text and open a spreadsheet document and paste. From there you can work the data in any way you see fit (graphing, sorting, etc.)

Microsoft Excel for PC / Mac

First - download the desired data sets and save them to your local computer as outlined in the protocol above.

Second - open this file with your MSWord application. Under the Edit menu select Replace and type a comma (,) in the "Find what" field and ^t (that's shift 6 and the letter t) which is the Microsoft intrepretation for Tab in the "Replace with" field. Click on the Replace All button and all of your commas will be replaced with tabs.

Third - all you have to do now is copy the new text and open an Excel spreadsheet document and paste. From there you can work the data in any way you see fit (graphing, sorting, etc.)

Filemaker Pro 8.0

We don't have access to FMPro 5.0 but we're assuming that the procedure would be the same in that version. Your best bet for databases in this software would be to download the template that we will make available for the project. Then all you will have to do is follow the protocol above for exporting your data from the online database and saving that file to your local computer.

Your next step would be to open the template that you have downloaded with your Filemaker Pro application and under File just choose Import/Export and then Import Records. When your default location window appears first select Comma-Separated Text from the Show menu. Then select the file of data that you saved to your computer. Once you have completed both of these steps click on the Open button and you will see the "Import Field Mapping" window. You should check that all of the fields align properly (but there should be no problems here). All you have to do now is click on the "Import" button and your data will be imported directly into your template! Record #1 will contain all of the ID fields which you can keep or delete if you wish.

Automatic View/Modify Search

This modification to the database will allow users to view or modify their records without having to first go to the search page. It does allow anyone with administrative permission to search for records to view or modify, however.

If you are a user without administrative permission all you need to do is click on the "Modify or Delete" menus and all of the entries that you made to the database will be called up. Then just locate the one you need to edit or delete and click the radio button/checkbox before that record. Go to the bottom of the page and then click on the Modify/Delete record button. The record will then come up for the edits/delete action by you.

This modification saves users from the extra step of having to search to call up their entries. If you are an "administrative user" this modification does not apply to your account ... but then again, you'd be busy with other duties!  

HTML Headers and Footers

We modified the scripts so that our page headers and footers along with image map URL's would be carried into the database program. Sounds easy enough but this took some time and .... patience!

The pages are starting to actually look like they belong with our CommunityNet server and the RoadKill project now!

Censor Dirty Words

We modified the scripts to pick up on "dirty words" and replace them with *** for each entry in any of the fields.

We had a lot of problems with this one but we finally got it! We will feel a lot better having this in place. All entered records to the database will automatically be emailed to us so we can check on things anyway but this could save me a lot of admin-time if we end up with some unruly users.

Please stand by ...

As we incorporate additional functions to our database project we will make the information available here. If you have questions about the operation or use of our online database you should email EduTel's Webmaster.