Your favorite database idea (1 Viewer)

David Eagar said:

OK, lets get clever, new field & table required:

id
Ingredient.......Flour
Unit...............gram......This is what you use in recipes
Packsize.........2 kilo's....Do we need conversion table (2000gms)
Reorder..........200gms...Do you want to run out before you get more?
BarCode.........scanner's might be a bit much for home.
Class.............Vegetable/meat/spices etc

Global Reorder setting per Ingredient class based on shopping frequency.

eg Vegetables - daily, meat -weekly, spices -monthly

Click to expand...

What about different brands? do you want to use multiple barcodes (if at all) or one barcode/brand

I don't see why having different brands would require a different setup, it would just be a different ingredient. Personally, I don't think too many people are going to be running their kitchens with a bar coder

Expanded version attached, still has a bug with recipes,but making good progress

As you can see in my example, I added a table for UPC/EAN codes. Even if the user doesn't have a barcode scanner, it can always be entered manually, or the user could select the general ingredient from some cascading combo boxes tied to the ingredients table. The UPC/EAN table relates to the ingredients table through a junction table, which allows more than one UPC/EAN per ingredient and vis-versa. This requires the ingredients table to hold more 'generalized' information.
I.e. 1 bag of white flour with a BrandName1 has UPC# 123412341234
1 bag of white flour with BrandName2 has UPC# 432143214321

Essentially, they are the same thing, so in the ingredients table you would simply have: "White (All Purpose) Flour" and the UPC/EAN junction table would relate both of the UPCs to that single ingredient record.

Also, I don't think creating individual ingredient records for the same thing but different brands is a good idea because while the BrandName might be one thing on the west coast of the US, it's likely called something different on the east coast and in other territories across the world. So in summary, the ingredients table should only hold the general type of product, without brand names.

How about a database that has a scanner for every item in your house. This database has 2 functions in it as well. Store and get. So when you go out and buy something new... it stores it in a hugeass room behind you. and when you say get item.. it knows exactly what to get you. This include food, movies, girlfriends, wives, kids. Whatever annoys you at times so you can store it away and that you enjoy so you can get it at any moment.

Wow...... Awsome imagination.....Although a litle scary, I wouldn't want to be your wife or kids

That's a good one... Every man's dream! ... and woman's dream probably!

Anyway. I just joined a market research panel and they might be sending me a barcode scanner to use in my daily shopping. Sounds like a good candidate for some reconfiguration for this database! Anybody remember CueCats?

I read a book a while back called The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson...

About a brilliant engineer that creates a technological book for the education of his daughter an interactive device crammed with folklore, science and martial arts that teaches people how to think.

Ok maybe slightly out there but its a database right???

I guess the combined knowledge of the web is getting there - just ain't quite interactive enough yet...