Forum Moderators: travelin cat
Is this possible? Is it effective? How many concurrent users could access the data before there is a degredation in response time?
Any other thoughts....
Thank you,
Shawn
They have just completely switched over to Macs
They should be running on OS 10.3 then. Why not go the open source route if your concerned about price? I would think you could start with mySQL and OpenOffice. If very basic text entry is all that is needed, an Apache hosted intranet might be another option. All of the above programs either come preinstalled on new Macs or can be easily downloaded.
Hopefully someone will come around that is qualified to answer your original question regarding response times and the rest; so that you can weigh your options.
Filemaker 7 does an incredible job of duplicating the FM interface in a browser automatically. Then each teacher can use their browser as a front end. The school need only purchase Filemaker Server Advanced and a copy of Filemaker Developer for you to use then pass to the school tech person for future debugging/administrative work.
If the school wants to publish any of their database to the outside world, I would highly recommend custom web publishing for that.
Is this possible? Is it effective? How many concurrent users could access the data before there is a degredation in response time?
For what I described above (instant web publishing) the buzz is you should be running Server Advanced on a dual G5 if you'll have lots of users. "Lots" means different things to different people, but I'd throw my guess at around 200-250 users. (Remember the teacher's won't all connect at the same time all the time.)
If the school has less than 200 teachers, you could probably get away with an older single-proc G5 (still a tower).
When I approached the person in charge of approving the project, he suggested using the Appleworks database as a front end.
They do not have a 'tech department' per se. The computer teacher does what he can and I volunteer when I am not working.
-Shawn
Appleworks can't really be a front-end to anything -- it's a text editor.
Not really, AppleWorks is an integrated office application. It might do for what you're trying to accomplish, ssbarnes. Still it's very easy to grow out of a product designed on a low-end tool like this.
Another path you might take is to use FileMaker 7's instant Web publishing functionality, which is getting a lot more attention these days than connecting AppleWorks & FileMaker.
You sure you don't want to dive into the deep end and create a PHP/Apache/ MySQL intranet (the "Open Source" route)? That's what the cool kids are doing.
Diving into the deep end ...hmmm... That isn'ta bad suggestion at all. The only limitation is the time it would take for me to learn PHP/Apache/MySQL.
What dop you suggest as the quickest and easiest way to get this up and running. I want a database that will store each students pertinent data, create class rosters so that attendance can be input, and a place for teachers to track their students grades.
I can always take the summer and make a bigger & better version.
-Shawn
the quickest and easiest way
FileMaker Server 7 Web publishing.
The server software will be fairly expensive, but the clients are free (e.g., Safari). The Development learning curve is easy. Develop it with the Web in mind from the ground up -- by test it on your Web browser while you develop.
If/when you do outgrow FileMaker, you can deploy a SQL solution, without jarring your users too much -- they'll be used to accessing this stuff from a Web browser.
However, you'll probably want to discourage the use of those controls and provide button shortcuts to the most common tasks in the layout area near the data. (In my experience with teachers and Filemaker, most of them have no interest in learning all about it, they just want to get the task done as painlessly as possible.)
Filemaker publishes some starter solutions for educational uses, perhaps these may be useful?
Faculty Staff
Manage faculty contact information as well as emergency contact details.
Field Trips
Record and plan field trips tracking locations, distance, attendance, and more.
Student Emergency Card
Enter contact information and images for each student.
Student Records
Maintain contact information about each student, as well as their parents and guardians. Add your school logo and easily print letters and labels.
All of these are included with Filemaker (read more [filemaker.com]).
Not really, AppleWorks is an integrated office application.
(In my experience with teachers and Filemaker, most of them have no interest in learning all about it, they just want to get the task done as painlessly as possible.)
I second that. Teachers generally have little or no experience using FileMaker or anything like it (e.g,. MS Access). They do however have experience using Web database applications (whether they know it or not) such as eBay, Amazon, or online banking, and find browser-based solutions "easier."
Filemaker provides built in record- and field-level security, so it should be rather simple to set up everything so that students can't go in and change their (or other students) grades. ;)
1] It's free,
2] It's stable,
3] It's relatively easy to learn (I had a good system going quicker than I could learn how to copy disks on Windoze).
4] It's free.
5] It's extremely well documented
6] It's free
I can't comment on security. I write strictly for local use. It does appear that the security systems mySQL uses is quite sophisticated.
That's my two cents, sold for a copper ...
