Once the fields that I am going to use had been decided, I drew a simple table of theses fields so that I could gather information quickly. This was a data capture sheet. Now I needed to capture the data. I found that the simplest way to get the information I needed on the cars was to look in the Auto Trader. The Auto Trader provided me with all the information on the fields that I needed, and also provided me with a wide range of models and makes so that I could vary all the cars that I had so that I have a wide range of different cars for a customer to choose from. Once I had collected information of 50 cars on my data capture sheet, I needed to put this information into Microsoft Excel. Inputting the data to Microsoft Excel was a very quick and easy process as I have had experience with using this program. All I needed to do was type in my fields in each column of the spreadsheet, and the record the information of each car on each row. But before all this data could be added, I needed to format each field of my database. To format my fields, I had to click on format on my toolbar, then field, and then change the desired fields. I needed to do this so that the correct information could be inputted into the database. For example, my first field was make and the make would be written in text form, so the format for the field make would be text. The computer will only allow me to put in text into that field. Another example would be the field price. The price would be given in number form so the format for the field price would be number. The computer will only allow me to put a numeric form into that field. Once all the fields had been formatted correctly, I could input my data.
Once the data of my information had been inputted into the database, I tested it to see that it worked. I could test to see if my database works by doing searches and sorts. A search is when you ask the computer to search for information on a specific field (simple search) or a number of fields (complex search). For example, you could ask the computer to search for a red car of the make BMW. The computer will then find all cars fitting these criteria and produce them in a list showing all the information of red BMW’s. A sort is when you ask the computer to sort out the cars to your desire, for example you could tell the computer to sort out the cars by price, and the computer will then provide you with all the cars in your database in order of price, most expensive first and least expensive last. You can do searches and sort by clicking on the report creator option under the tools toolbar, adding all the fields and then creating a filter of what I want to search or sort.
The searches that I did were:
- Mondeo (a list of Mondeos)
- Engine size 1.8 (a list of cars with engine size 1.8)
- Reg X (a list of X reg cars)
- Cars not Ford ( a list of cars not Ford)
- Engine size 1.8 or 3.0 (Cars with engine sizes 1.8 or 3.0)
- Rover and blue (a list of blue Rovers)
- Ford Escorts (a list of Ford Escorts)
- Ford ( a list of Ford cars)
The sorts I did were:
Once I had done these searches I checked if they were correct and that the computer had given the information that I had searched for and sorted out the information I wanted sorting. The tests were correct, I could therefore conclude that my database is successful. If a costumer wanted a certain car, I could now find it easily with the search option. I have now completed my task of compiling a database of cars for someone wishing to obtain a vehicle.
During the experiment, there were not many problems that I occurred. The only problem was the that computer that I used had a problem and wouldn’t let me open the program Microsoft Excel. But after some patient waiting, the program was finally opened and in perfect working order.
If I could have done this experiment again, o would have collected more information on more cars because at first I thought that 50 cars would be enough, but I realised that it wasn’t enough for me to gather a wide range of cars and for a costumer to choose from. More fields like mileage could have been used so that the costumer would have a wider range of information to look at for the car he is to buy. I would have also carried out more tests to make sure that my database was in working order and used a more updated program because the program I used was Microsoft Excel 97, and I could’ve gotten access to the newer Microsoft Excel because there might have been improvements to the program and more detail could’ve been added. But overall, the experiment went well and I completed the task that was set out successfully.
