A simpler way to make database submissions?

[SCPD]

I've made a lot of database submissions over the years and I tend to put them off because they are so cumbersome to type up. It would be very helpful if there was an input form where you can type in the blanks and tab to the next blank. I try to follow the instructions about what order to type the submission in but it is hard to line everything up so that you make sure all the blanks have been filled in. Even after trying to do this and proofreading I get feedback from some DB admins that I following the correct order would be helpful for them.

If I'm really trying to follow the instructions and am still coming up short, I would imagine how difficult and time consuming it for the volunteers that maintain the information. Is it possible to build a new submission form that would help us all?

 

[loumaag]

Well the problem has been discussed and basically the free form entry area proves to be the best for allowing different kinds of submissions.

WIth that said, if you tend to have this data in the same format each time you could put it in a Excel spreadsheet (or some clone of it) and that way you could have the columns titled and fill them, in tabbing from field to field, and hit return <Enter> to go to the next line. You could then copy and paste the entire entry (please include the titles line so the admin knows what is in what column), this is advantageous to you and the DB Admin as blanks will still take up the slot where it should be and the tabs (interpreted as columns on the spread sheet) can be used by our submission process to separate the columns. One thing to note, the bulk submission process we have tends to have problems with blanks, so if you arrange to have the lines with blanks near at the bottom of the submission, then we could more easily segregate those for entry.

Obviously you need to separate the submissions by agencies if submitting on a County page or for a TRS. Also, note that TRS and conventional submissions have different forms. Oh, if you use this, don't forget to mention it is from a spread sheet on the submission so that the admin doesn't think it is just a jumble.

 

[SCPD]

Lou. thank you! This is something I can put to immediate use. I still think my suggestion in the better way to go, but I don't sit in your shoes.

 

[troymail]

FWIW - Lou's right -- say you're a user who already has alot of data in a spreadsheet (or some other) format... It's not likely you're going to want to re-enter all that data into forms built for fielded data.

Freeform is the best way to go - it enter let's you cut and past a large amount of data from a text file or spreadsheet in basically two (or so) key strokes.