FileMaker Pro 8 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual Quickstart Guide

Chapter 8. Planning Databases

The time you spend in this little chapter with nothing more than a notepad and your thoughts will save you hours of frustration later at the keyboard. Here’s the secret to successful databases: they’re not really about data, they’re about people and how they work together. It might seem odd, but the data itself shouldn’t dictate the database design. Instead, let an organization’s processes among its people and groups drive the design.

Start with basic questions: Where does the group’s information come from? Who knows what? Who needs what? Why is it done that way? And, most importantly, what does the group wish the database could do? Obviously, a mere database cannot solve every problem—and you don’t have forever ...