Hey all,

I have started to learn VB and VB.net recently. I'm a proud owner of MS Office 2007 Enterprise and I have VB 2005 to work with. I would like to write a nice Inventory program for my company. I have a few requirements.

1.) Employee login with restrictions to certain functions (Forms)
2.) Access database as the background.
3.) Buttons to Add and Subtract from inventory count.
4.) E-mail notification when the qty of a particular item is too low.
5.) Background system event logger for all transactions in the Inventory
6.) Each item inventory will have unique serial numbers to them and they will also have Part numbers. I want to be able to change the qty of on-hand counts for a particular part number, however I wish to be able to keep the Serial Number of the machine in a database that will allow me to create messages about repairs/Services performed on said machine and also to log WHO did them and other events regarding the services.
7.) i'd like the program to be as simple as possible but with great functionality because I have some serious Dumb Dumbs working for me.
8.) If at ALL possible, i'd love to find a source which will let me generate/print barcodes for these machines and parts I will be inventorying, as well as use the barcodes to remove 1 count from inventory and/or Add 1 count to inventory by scanning barcode.


Any ideas where I should start? I know Access pretty well and I'm becomming more and more fluent with VB. Got any referenes or perhaps you know of a program already?

Tim

: Hey all,
:
: I have started to learn VB and VB.net recently. I'm a proud owner of MS Office 2007 Enterprise and I have VB 2005 to work with. I would like to write a nice Inventory program for my company. I have a few requirements.
:
: 1.) Employee login with restrictions to certain functions (Forms)
: 2.) Access database as the background.
: 3.) Buttons to Add and Subtract from inventory count.
: 4.) E-mail notification when the qty of a particular item is too low.
: 5.) Background system event logger for all transactions in the Inventory
: 6.) Each item inventory will have unique serial numbers to them and they will also have Part numbers. I want to be able to change the qty of on-hand counts for a particular part number, however I wish to be able to keep the Serial Number of the machine in a database that will allow me to create messages about repairs/Services performed on said machine and also to log WHO did them and other events regarding the services.
: 7.) i'd like the program to be as simple as possible but with great functionality because I have some serious Dumb Dumbs working for me.
: 8.) If at ALL possible, i'd love to find a source which will let me generate/print barcodes for these machines and parts I will be inventorying, as well as use the barcodes to remove 1 count from inventory and/or Add 1 count to inventory by scanning barcode.
:
:
: Any ideas where I should start? I know Access pretty well and I'm becomming more and more fluent with VB. Got any referenes or perhaps you know of a program already?
:
: Tim
:

Sounds ambitious. First of, these things take more than twice as long as your most pessimistic estimate. I had a Computer Teacher who had his own rule, something like 'It always takes more time than you plan, even if you plan for this extra time'. I agree with him totally :)

If I were you I'd start with getting the database interaction to work. The rest are trivial matters until this functions smoothly and if you can't do it then you might as well stop.
Can't help too much with databases though.


Best Regards,
Richard

The way I see it... Well, it's all pretty blurry

I want to be able to take TextBox.Text values and input them into my database... the tricky thing is that each text box will have its own column in the table. I would like to click a button like "Save" or something where all of the fields in those TextBox.Text will be saved to their appropriate column in ONE row as to represent one machine.

Any thoughts? How do you bind a source from a TextBox to a column in a table? Or a Display Member as VB calls it.

Tim

: I want to be able to take TextBox.Text values and input them into my database... the tricky thing is that each text box will have its own column in the table. I would like to click a button like "Save" or something where all of the fields in those TextBox.Text will be saved to their appropriate column in ONE row as to represent one machine.
:
: Any thoughts? How do you bind a source from a TextBox to a column in a table? Or a Display Member as VB calls it.
:
: Tim
:

I guess you would use an SQL query to insert it into the Database.
I know that there are a lot of controls that allow linking with a database, but I don't really know how to use them.
I'm sorry but databases aren't my strong point.
However, I suggest you Google for some examples on how to use databases with VB, or perhaps you can get a book about it.


Best Regards,
Richard

The way I see it... Well, it's all pretty blurry

: : I want to be able to take TextBox.Text values and input them into my database... the tricky thing is that each text box will have its own column in the table. I would like to click a button like "Save" or something where all of the fields in those TextBox.Text will be saved to their appropriate column in ONE row as to represent one machine.
: :
: : Any thoughts? How do you bind a source from a TextBox to a column in a table? Or a Display Member as VB calls it.
: :
: : Tim
: :
:
: I guess you would use an SQL query to insert it into the Database.
: I know that there are a lot of controls that allow linking with a database, but I don't really know how to use them.
: I'm sorry but databases aren't my strong point.
: However, I suggest you Google for some examples on how to use databases with VB, or perhaps you can get a book about it.
:
:
: Best Regards,
: Richard
:
: The way I see it... Well, it's all pretty blurry
:
:
BitByBit_Thor is right. You have to read book about VB - Database programming. I can give a hint how to insert/update data in DB using data typed in Textbox. You may use INSERT or UPDATE SQL statement depennds on what are you going to do. If you need to save new data to DB, you have to use INSERT. In case old data must be updated, use UPDATE statement.
Example:

Dim strSQL as string
strSQL = "INSERT INTO tblAddress LastName,FirstName, Address _
        & "VALUES (" & txtLastName.text & "," & txtFirstName.text & ","  txtAddress.text & ")"

If you are going to use Stored procedure to add/update data in DB, you have to use Parameters to pass data from Front end to the SP. Anyway you have to learn a lot ...

This message was edited by iwilld0it at 2007-2-22 8:14:7

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This message was edited by iwilld0it at 2007-2-22 8:12:52

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Unfortunately, the scope of your question is beyond what people can answer in a few sentences. I've been doing database programming for almost 7 years and I still dont scratch the surface sometimes.

I recommend downloading free books from:

http://www.chmpdf.com

Look for books on ADO or ADO.NET. These are database programming API's. If you are using VB.NET exclusively then forget ADO. You also need to decide how you are storing the data. You can use Sql Server, MS Access, Excel files, Text files ... There is even a compact version of SQL Server 2005 that you can use as a local data store for a single program. Writing SQL queries is yet another books worth of reading.

Also, look into pruchasing any VB book written by Franscesco Balena. The book I bought from him was "Professional VB.NET". The book is 1600 pages long. See the dilema in providing a straight answer.

To complete the task you envisioned, which is a good outline, you will have alot to study.

Once you get into the coding, then you will be able run into situations that pose questions that we can better answer.

: I want to be able to take TextBox.Text values and input them into my database... the tricky thing is that each text box will have its own column in the table. I would like to click a button like "Save" or something where all of the fields in those TextBox.Text will be saved to their appropriate column in ONE row as to represent one machine.
:
: Any thoughts? How do you bind a source from a TextBox to a column in a table? Or a Display Member as VB calls it.
:
: Tim
: