I want to create a database for use by 3 or 4 users (so not many) but they may want to enter information at the same time.
My database will contain a small number of fields (approx. 5), 1 of which is a unique id that needs to increase by 1 per new entry.
Now, my idea (and for what its worth I believe that there'll be a better way than what I'm currently planning) is to create a front end in Excel 2010 so that users can "log-in" and clearly enter the required information. When they first open up form in Excel the ID will be the previous value + 1 (in theory the next available ID number), and after filling in the form, the data is submitted into the database.
If the ID has been used (user 2 may have logged in and submitted an entry whilst user 1 was still thinking about what to type) then it would throw up an error and display the new next available ID that may be used.
The database itself needs to be reliable and will contain data that will need to be kept for 20-25 years at least. Further points to consider are that it won't be regularly updated (beyond the initial go-live) although users may want to update it at the same time, and probably won't take up that much data - probably in the region of 300 rows.
The questions I have - can Excel be setup to do this? What database application would it be best to link to?
Or is there a better, more effective way of doing what I need?? Any help gratefully appreciated...
My database will contain a small number of fields (approx. 5), 1 of which is a unique id that needs to increase by 1 per new entry.
Now, my idea (and for what its worth I believe that there'll be a better way than what I'm currently planning) is to create a front end in Excel 2010 so that users can "log-in" and clearly enter the required information. When they first open up form in Excel the ID will be the previous value + 1 (in theory the next available ID number), and after filling in the form, the data is submitted into the database.
If the ID has been used (user 2 may have logged in and submitted an entry whilst user 1 was still thinking about what to type) then it would throw up an error and display the new next available ID that may be used.
The database itself needs to be reliable and will contain data that will need to be kept for 20-25 years at least. Further points to consider are that it won't be regularly updated (beyond the initial go-live) although users may want to update it at the same time, and probably won't take up that much data - probably in the region of 300 rows.
The questions I have - can Excel be setup to do this? What database application would it be best to link to?
Or is there a better, more effective way of doing what I need?? Any help gratefully appreciated...