Thoughts on Taking Inventory

From: David C. Jenner <djenner_at_halcyon.com>
Date: Sat Feb 27 21:43:35 1999

For documentation, you could start with standard bibliographic
categories and add as any qualifiers you want to specialize it
to computers.

For hardware, I started an inventory database a year or two ago
for my PDP-11 stuff. I have a relational database with several
tables. This is specific to one type of computer, but you could
generalize it without too much trouble.

One table contains all the information in the "PDP-11 Field Guide"
with the DEC Module ID as the key. I have updated this with
corrected information and 3rd party vendor information as I come
across it.

Another table contains the actual modules I have (or had). A
foreign key in this table links to the module type table.

A similar set of tables applies to "components", which is basically
everything except modules. Rather than try to show containment of
modules by components or components by components, the structure of
something bigger than a module is just the sum of all the components
and modules.

Since some of the components and modules are in systems, a final
table describes a system. Altogether, it looks like this (the
dashed lines are the relationships between the tables in the
database):
                         Modules (Field Guide)
                         ======= Module Type
                         Serial Number (key) ===========
                         Module ID -M----------1- Module ID (key)
                    --M- Name Option ID
                   / Source Bus
                  / Status Description
Systems / Comment
======= /
Name (key) -1--
Type \ Components
Serial Number \ ========== Component Type
Comment \ Serial Number (key) ==============
                   \ Component ID -M-------1- Component ID (key)
                    --M- Name Option ID
                         Source Bus
                         Comment Type
                                                  Description

This makes it real easy to generate all sort of "reports" on just
selected Types, Modules/Components of selected type, status, etc.,
complete systems--whatever you need.

I plan to have selected subsets of this available online at my
Web site in a month or two. In fact I was thinking of setting up
something like what Kevin suggests, but specialize in just PDP-11
stuff. It would be called QUEUE: Q-bus and Unibus Equipment
Users Exchange. If Kevin beats me to it, ... well that saves me
a lot of trouble!

By the way, the PDP-11 Field Guide has been maintained by Ron Copley,
but I haven't heard from him for months/years. I highly recommend
that the PDP-11 Field Guide be maintained as a table like above to
make it easier to update and use. It's always easy to export the
table to some sort of delimited ASCII file (commas, tabs, etc.) to
make it usable by someone who doesn't want to use a database. Or
to generate a report that reconstructs something real close to the
current listing.

Dave

Kevin McQuiggin wrote:
>
> How about a database on the web that collectors could visit and use to
> record their stuff? Then everyone could query and find out who to talk to
> for questions on certains items.
>
> The problem would be coming to consensus on a common data format.
>
> I'll volunteer to host the site and do the DB development if everyone can
> agree on how to do it.
>
> Kevin
>
> --
> Kevin McQuiggin VE7ZD
> mcquiggi_at_sfu.ca
Received on Sat Feb 27 1999 - 21:43:35 GMT