Subject: IPD stuff

From: Greg Dunlap <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 10 Sep 1995 17:44:56 -0500

Hi there, I'm Greg Dunlap. I originally contacted Chick about IPD because I had been 
contemplating a similar project on my own for some time. I do database application programming 
and development for a living (mostly in the Borland products - Paradox For Windows, Delphi and 
Interbase) and while learning Delphi, I had put together a Windows pinball database application. 
I shelved it when it was through because I decided that amassing the data would be just way too 
much work. When Chick put out IPD, I contacted him and asked him if he would be interested in 
combining my Windows application with his shell and releasing it as freeware. He was very 
interested and I have been developing the system since. Anyone interested in seeing it can get a 
beta copy from 

ftp://tezcat.com/users/gdd/pinball 

There are install instructions in there too. 

When I imported Chick's data I broke it all out into separate tables in a relational format. The 
tables are Machines, Designers, Companies, Themes and Years. This way I could join the tables in 
several ways with several views of the data. For instance, You can look at a machine and all its 
designers, or a designer and all his/her machines (a Many:Many link) or you can look at a Company 
and all its games, all the games for a Year (all One:Many links) and so on. Navigation through 
the system is very easy and intuitive and abides by Windows GUI standards. I've been sidetracked 
by work recently but am planning on finishing WIPD (Windows IPD as I've been calling it) early 
next year.

The question of a relational database obviously makes sense to me - and I've done it already! If 
you all want to see the nitty gritty details (data model, fields, table structures etc) I'll be 
more than glad to make that information available for discussion. There's no reason to work out a 
whole new relational model when i've already put one together and we can modify it as needed 
unless for whatever reasons it is deemed unworkable.

I had intended to work in serial number information from the beginning, and I think its a great 
idea. I was also thinking about linking in rules sheets from the archive for the games which are 
available, although that would probably only be a part of the Windows project since it would be 
very unweildly to do in the main database. 

I have no opinion about the subject of ID numbers, as long as something is decided on and we keep 
to it religiously. In my experience, a simple ID number is an excellent way to go. And that 
should be a real number, not an alpha field with numbers in it. 

I like the idea of a steering committee too. The more people there are, the more ideas we can 
toss around and the more views we can have. This is always an excellent thing. I don't have any 
aprticular area of interest as far as types of amchines go, and would be mroe than happy keeping 
to the Windows application and other database-centric stuff if wished by the group. Frankly, I 
don't have the extensive knowledge you guys have for certain periods of games, and the only 
period of games I really know anything extensively about are the ones from the past 15 years or 
so. 

Lets keep this discussion rolling and hopefully make the IPD a better thing for everybody.

Later,

GDD