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07/29/2010 (4:47 am)

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  • I am working for a used car dealer to create a database prtotype. The information I got is: Different makes and models of cars are carried by the store.
    The financing options that customers can choose from include cash, 24 to 60 month financing, or leasing. Customer data, such as address, vehicle prefernces and historical purchase records are maintained on file. Invoices have a listing of major options included in the vehicle

    the functions required by the database are:
    Where Is a particular make/model car available for purchase?
    What is the average selling price for these cars?
    What cars are availalble within a specific price range?
    What cars are available within a specific milage range.
    What models are most popular?
    What type of web site did the customer visit just prior to visiting the online auto reseller?
    can you help me to create the tables I need and the essential attributes for the tables? thanks a lot.


  • What you are asking seems a bit beyond the scope of this queston/answer service. Right now your main concerns should be 1.) what database software will you be using (msSQL, mySQL, access (god help ou but it can be done) 2.) will there be multiple locations and; if so, how you will transport the data between locations (manually, real time, batch jobs...over the internet, vpn yada yad yada) 3.) what language are you going to use a.) access the database b.)relate all this data to the world over the web (php, asp, etc). 4.) what kind of platform will your servers be running (LINUX/UNIX, Windows).
    at that point, you can kind of get an idea of what your tables should be like (sounds pretty easy and the data types are no problem, but if you do not know how to design a database in the first place, the task of setting up any kind of relational tables can be very daunting at first... you might just need a single table for this application)
    anyway, hope it helps. I am no google-paid expert, but i do this on a daily basis :)


  • Sounds like quite a task... maybe a bit much?

    You should make sure your client (dealership) has appropriate perspective and expectations. The scope of a project like this could be rather large (as in several third-party products already exists that provide this functionality --- most of them run 10's of thousands to purchase and implement)...
    Anyway, in answer to the questions that make up the functional requirements of this software package (need considerably more than a data model)...
    Where Is a particular make/model car available for purchase?
    * You've got an relational model decision here... what are the objects? Looks like location (source), manufacturer, and model.
    What is the average selling price for these cars?
    What models are most popular?
    * These questions can be answered by designing proper queries on historical transaction data.
    What cars are availalble within a specific price range?
    What cars are available within a specific milage range?
    * These are queries on existing data as well, but the mileage factor means some (at least primitive) form of spatial analysis... alternatively, you could store distance from the dealer for location record (much cheaper than a full blown GIS, but not very flexible...)
    What type of web site did the customer visit just prior to visiting
    * This one is an application function unrelated to the database. The data store is simple transaction log of visits. You can grab the last page from most browsers using ASP (VBScript) or Java but you're subject to user security settings
    Anyway, a basic start would be like:

    Table: Source (name, address fields, type, distance, PK)
    Table: Manufacturer (name, notes, PK)
    Table: Model (name, year, notes, PK)
    Table: Features (name, PK, FK)
    Table: PurchaseTransaction (type, value, ModelID, date, etc.)
    Table: Customer (name, address, etc..)
    Relationships (build R-tables M-M relationships):
    Source->Manufacturer, M-M
    Manufacturer->Model, 1-M
    Model->Source, M-M
    Model->Features, 1-M

    and so on and so forth... that's about 0.05% of what you'd need... hope you're not in too deep...
    Try stepping back a little... the basic steps (even for prototyping) are: 1) Set functional requirements and scope
    2) Design data model (platform is unimportant... use any RDBMS)
    3) Design application
    4) Implement/Test

    Just some insight for you... disregard if it sounds like pontificating...


  • wow mike5-ga!

    You sure are going all out for this used car dealer. I hope they appreciate the sincerity of your effort.
    https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=search&q=mike5-ga&qtype=all
    -K~


  • I agree with the comments from artpego and vince23 - there is a lot of information that you still need to get from your client to really do this project properly. To me it seems as if you may be trying to skip some very important steps in project lifecycle management. Proper concept documentation, requirements development, and project control among some of the steps that don't seem to be finished yet. It's vitally important to complete these steps before moving on to the construction phase. I would recommend getting your hands on some good project lifecycle books, take a look at Software Project Survivial Guide from Steve McConnell (www.construx.com) or any number of texts that feature well known lifecycle methodologies such as the classic waterfall, Boehm spirals, or IEEE (a little daunting). If you don't have these requirements hammered out in advance, I can almost guarantee you'll be doing this project over again, and neither you nor your customer will be pleased.
    ps - before beginning any type of work be 100% certain you have a signed contract!









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