Greetings all. Thank you for looking at my post. Please forgive me if I posted this in the wrong area. I am looking for assistance with a homework project in which I am struggling with and very stressed out about. I have spent the last 2 weeks doing a great deal of studying and reading and I am essentially still in the planning stage of my project. I desperately need to implement into code to meet my deadline which is about a week away. Please do not flame me and assume I am trying to avoid the difficult work by getting others to do my assignment. I do realize this is my first post and I have just joined the community. I am in a situation where I have been given roughly two weeks go complete this assignment and have no help. I am in an odd classroom environment where due to my choice, I am the only student not working on a group project and feel I have not been properly prepared for the level of this project. Thank you in advance to anyone willing to help me with my project.
My project:
It is intended to be an order form program with the idea of an operator to be using while taking orders over the form. I have determined the data I will store include:
-Customer information including Name (1 string), address, phone number
-Quantity of each product being ordered (each product being a column in a database)
-Possibly a special notes field (column in database)
-I will need to use a database for this program so my idea was to make it store all orders. This will be a single database with customer information entered for every order. Not a relational database with the customer information stored in a separate database.
-Other information for every order will consist of generated information which includes order number (planned on being the primary unique key), date, as well as amount totals (before and after taxes, taxes should be specified on the order screen by person taking order.
This program also needs to be able to search through the database and display the results. Instructions on this are vague however it looks like I need to use SQL to search the database. I am very confused on implementing the database. We have done a little of this in class but we used Access DB without SQL and were supplied a pre-made SQL database another time. My instructor had wanted me to use a SQL database but wasn't sure how to create one himself. I should note that this will all be a local program and the database should be stored locally, no server-client. All I find about SQL is it's a language for accessing databases not a database itself. So what is a SQL database? Do they exist? How do I create the database?
This program must also keep track of inventory. My idea is the inventory will be saved as a file. Perhaps an XML file, however I may use a simpler text file. The inventory should be loaded into an array upon form load and amounts decreased when orders are purchased.
*Note about inventory. Current stocks should be displayed beside the appropriate fields when ordering along with the price beside that. I figure I will make these all arrays. Using arrays is one of the requirements for this project. I also assume I will need a place for someone to edit the inventory for when new shipments arrive.
Here are some questions that came to mind while thinking about this.
What happens if someone wants to call in and cancel an order?
How are is the inventory going to be edited?
What if a customer wants to call in and edit quantities?
Display warnings when low on stock? What if a customer wants to order more than is currently in stock?
My project must include at least one class. After researching about classes my first thought was to make a class for products and make a new instance for each product. Then I was thinking how a class can be something real in the real world and was considering making my whole order form a class. Not really sure how a class would best fit into this project or how to implement the class into either the product or order form idea.
My main sticking points on this project is implementing the class with such a project as well as working with the databases. I'm also a little unsure about storing inventory to files and having some problems with the user interface. Besides not being sure how best to make the interface I am having problems with it looking bad, things not proportional or moving right when enlarged or made full screen.
Here's my ideas I've started to create for the interface.
-Main form: Will be followed by splash screen. Should be the order form area where new order can be taken. This is because this will be the most used and important feature. Should have add button to add to database. Clear button to clear form. Calculate button to calculate totals unless I can get this to work on the fly.
My main form will have a menu bar. From the menu bar other forms will need to be opened with the main form hiding and a way to get back to main form.
-Search form: should open up with user being able to search by order number, date, customer, and phone number. Likely a cancel and search button would be appropriate.
Search results: the window after searching. It will contain a data grid view. Should have a way to go back to main form and to make a new search.
Inventory
A form that will display current stock and also allow the stock levels to be edited.
There's much more I can go into the project but this is a good starting point. I could really use some help with this. Anyone that can provide me working solutions with source code would be greatly appreciated. If that is too much to ask code through this forum and GUI designs would also be appreciated. I especially need help with database creation and showing/editing. Using a class is another one of my main issues. Anything I receive for help with this project will likely be chopped and hacked from as to create my own project and ensure I actually understand the code I am using. I need to ensure that I have knowledge of all code I am using. I am not trying to copy or plagiarize in any manner.
Here is my working environment:
Operating System: Windows XP SP2
Program: Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition
My project:
It is intended to be an order form program with the idea of an operator to be using while taking orders over the form. I have determined the data I will store include:
-Customer information including Name (1 string), address, phone number
-Quantity of each product being ordered (each product being a column in a database)
-Possibly a special notes field (column in database)
-I will need to use a database for this program so my idea was to make it store all orders. This will be a single database with customer information entered for every order. Not a relational database with the customer information stored in a separate database.
-Other information for every order will consist of generated information which includes order number (planned on being the primary unique key), date, as well as amount totals (before and after taxes, taxes should be specified on the order screen by person taking order.
This program also needs to be able to search through the database and display the results. Instructions on this are vague however it looks like I need to use SQL to search the database. I am very confused on implementing the database. We have done a little of this in class but we used Access DB without SQL and were supplied a pre-made SQL database another time. My instructor had wanted me to use a SQL database but wasn't sure how to create one himself. I should note that this will all be a local program and the database should be stored locally, no server-client. All I find about SQL is it's a language for accessing databases not a database itself. So what is a SQL database? Do they exist? How do I create the database?
This program must also keep track of inventory. My idea is the inventory will be saved as a file. Perhaps an XML file, however I may use a simpler text file. The inventory should be loaded into an array upon form load and amounts decreased when orders are purchased.
*Note about inventory. Current stocks should be displayed beside the appropriate fields when ordering along with the price beside that. I figure I will make these all arrays. Using arrays is one of the requirements for this project. I also assume I will need a place for someone to edit the inventory for when new shipments arrive.
Here are some questions that came to mind while thinking about this.
What happens if someone wants to call in and cancel an order?
How are is the inventory going to be edited?
What if a customer wants to call in and edit quantities?
Display warnings when low on stock? What if a customer wants to order more than is currently in stock?
My project must include at least one class. After researching about classes my first thought was to make a class for products and make a new instance for each product. Then I was thinking how a class can be something real in the real world and was considering making my whole order form a class. Not really sure how a class would best fit into this project or how to implement the class into either the product or order form idea.
My main sticking points on this project is implementing the class with such a project as well as working with the databases. I'm also a little unsure about storing inventory to files and having some problems with the user interface. Besides not being sure how best to make the interface I am having problems with it looking bad, things not proportional or moving right when enlarged or made full screen.
Here's my ideas I've started to create for the interface.
-Main form: Will be followed by splash screen. Should be the order form area where new order can be taken. This is because this will be the most used and important feature. Should have add button to add to database. Clear button to clear form. Calculate button to calculate totals unless I can get this to work on the fly.
My main form will have a menu bar. From the menu bar other forms will need to be opened with the main form hiding and a way to get back to main form.
-Search form: should open up with user being able to search by order number, date, customer, and phone number. Likely a cancel and search button would be appropriate.
Search results: the window after searching. It will contain a data grid view. Should have a way to go back to main form and to make a new search.
Inventory
A form that will display current stock and also allow the stock levels to be edited.
There's much more I can go into the project but this is a good starting point. I could really use some help with this. Anyone that can provide me working solutions with source code would be greatly appreciated. If that is too much to ask code through this forum and GUI designs would also be appreciated. I especially need help with database creation and showing/editing. Using a class is another one of my main issues. Anything I receive for help with this project will likely be chopped and hacked from as to create my own project and ensure I actually understand the code I am using. I need to ensure that I have knowledge of all code I am using. I am not trying to copy or plagiarize in any manner.
Here is my working environment:
Operating System: Windows XP SP2
Program: Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition
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