Databases
... doing quality assurance testing and problem replication and troubleshooting of the software product. For any one product we can have up to twenty or thirty different configurations. Initially keeping track of the configurations along with the machine name and IP address was done on paper with a grid like matrix. After a short period of time, this became extremely time consuming and impractical. A simple database was set up in Access and then the database was shared to allow each user to be able to find out what configuration each computer was in for that day or that week so that the proper tests and or bug reporting could be conducted. The database allows the users to search by software version, platform type, operating system, machine name, IP address, memory size, and several other items that are not as significant. Before the database was created the engineer would have to leave their desk find the chart and to a cross reference using the matrix that was drawn up, and hopefully that matrix was kept up to date. Now as the technicians update or change the machine configurations they can enter that information immediately into the database and it will automatically provide a matrix view or a tabular view for any engineer who needs it. Our development engineers use the Source Safe database. This database is slightly different than how most people usually view a database. Instead of taking input in and then presenting that information out to the user or allowing the user to search on specific fields, the information that this database uses is mainly just for the functioning of the application itself. Visual Source Safe keeps track of the many lines of code and objects that are created by the developers. The application keeps track of dates, times, lines of code, the name of the objects, time of check in and who has the code checked out as well as versions of the code. This streamlines the code building process allowing a large group of developer to all work on their own little “piece” and then being able to come together in the end to produce a final product with a minimum amount of confusion and time wasted. The last database is a Microsoft SQL server with a custom designed web front end. ...