Forum Moderators: phranque
Baseball starts in May and I would really like to store the current info to help track for the years to come. Thank you in advance.
[edited by: heini at 6:09 pm (utc) on Dec. 23, 2003]
[edit reason] Please don't post urls, domain names etc, thanks! [/edit]
Do you have access? Excel will probably not be a good option. Are you wanting it to be viewed online? What server is the site on, ie Operating system?
>>Don't use Excel, Access or anything else starting with Microsoft if you can help it
With all do respect that is not very good advice.
First, it's important to recognize that Excel is a spreadsheet, and not a database application -- the MS Office database app is Access. I know many people use Excel as a poor man's database, but I definitely urge you to make the switch to a "true" database right from the start.
Second, I'm also no lover of MS applications and would strongly encourage you to explore PHP and MySQL -- especially since whatever you do will be a learning curve for you in any event. I'm pretty confident that you will avoid many headaches by starting out with that combination.
That said, this year I took on a client who was already commited to a MS Access solution and, reluctantly, I went forward with it because there was no practical way to back them out and start over. There was already a siginificant investment in ASP and VBScript development and that, simply put, was that.
I must say that MS has made things relatively easy for the Access user, especially if you already know something about databases in general. What I really don't like is the required Windows hosting, as contrasted to the safer footing of Apache on Linux.
A friend of mine (who is admin for over 100 different networks on various technologies) describes Windows server on the web as "a petri dish for web parasites". It takes a very vigilant server admin to stay on top of the situation. If you've got that, then it might make sense to go forward with MS apps. If you don't have that, then I encourage you to find a non-MS web server solution.
The "convenience" that MS builds into their products comes at a very high price in terms of security, in my experience. They may fix that going forward, or they may just try to spin things that way. Right now, MS security is a very squeaky wheel.
As the previous poster suggested, using an open-source package gives you the flexibility of moving your site to another platform in the future. Also, using a SQL (preferably SQL92 compliant) database makes it much easier to transport your data.
;)
What do you have available? I am not totally sure about using excel but you could maybe use a csv file for storage if you don't have Access. Excel can open csv files and they run on a website quite nicely, I have a few applications that use them. They could be considered a "flatfile database".
If Microsoft technologies are what is available to you, that's just fine. Each set of languages/products has their own strengths and weaknesses.
So, as korkus asked, what do you have available to you?
Probably best to first determine what data you will be storing, how many players, how frequent the updates will be , the level of anticipated traffic on this part of the site, and how much dev work you are realistically prepared to do.
Also what server you are hosted on will have a big impact on choice of solutions.
Its not a big/complicated task at all - but it will need some thought and planning :)
I am relatively new, but extremly dislike what the guy who developed our site is doing. Are there any downloads of pre designed stuff? I don't want this to turn into a daily project. My wife will kill me. We play once a week and the stats wood be updated accordingly.
Thanks again for all your help already.
[edited by: tedster at 4:15 am (utc) on Dec. 24, 2003]
Are there any downloads of pre designed stuff?
Yeah, there are a few things around. Try searching for 'baseball statistics software' and like terms. I know there are a couple of inexpensive packages and maybe a freebie or two.
And, if I correctly remember, the last time I was searching the script sites (hotscripts and the 1/2 dozen or so php script sites), I think I saw some stuff for team stats. It would be worth it to take a look around.
softballstats.sourceforge.net
free, php based, looks like it might work for you
If you are used to maintaining a static html site, you'll find php/mysql to be a huge labor saver when it comes to stuff like this. I run a site that keeps up with statistics LIKE baseball stats, but not about baseball - I can update the whole site by uploading raw data text files, which I make in excel and save as csv files. Once you learn how, it's pretty easy. I've used a few canned php programs (e.g. forums) but for what you are asking it would be simple to set up a set of scripts yourself - not that complicated.
[edited by: slade7 at 4:58 pm (utc) on Dec. 29, 2003]
[edited by: txbakers at 5:36 pm (utc) on Dec. 29, 2003]
[edit reason] edited to keep on topic. [/edit]
What you could do, is keep all your stats in Spreadsheet format and then run some scripts to generate static HTML pages. All you need to do then, is to produce an index page (searchable or static depending on how many players you want to monitor) to point to the individual static pages.
The key to all this has to be automation. You don't want to be spending hours each week updating pages and pages.
I've used both offline generated pages and dynamic online generated pages. They both have their advantages but as server technology gets faster, then there is less need for static pages.
If you have the time, then go the MySQL/PHP route. If not, then look at XLS2HTML or XLS to CSV and then CSV 2 HTML convertors.
If I'm allowed to say, you can see examples of both technologies via the link in profile - just navigate to the free samples section on the left and choose Jockey Stats. (Mods, please delete this last paragraph if not acceptable)
