OK, I am not a db admin type. I have a knowledge of html, php and very little mysql but am learning.

What I really need is guidance on design/structure of my possible database.

Let me explain as best I can what I need.

I have a vehicle appraisal business. We do vehicle appraisals. I would like to have the appraiser input into the database the following areas:

appraisal number (could be PK - auto generated

his name

type of appraisal (this will trigger some other fields to be filled in if necessary

date of visit/appraisal

client name, address, phone, email

vehicle VIN

Vehicle Make, model, body style, color, interior color

mileage of vehicle

Special features

the following comments:

engine and comparment

body and exterior

interior

chassis

overall summary/comments

condition grade

estimated value

date submitted

date changed

I would like to get a printed report out from this. Also, have it saved so I can reference them later.

I probably think that this could be done in excel but would like to have it web accessible - mysql could do that in my webpage later.

I also figure that this could be a "flat file" (see, I have researched some things) but this is the start of a bigger endevour that I see but cannot figure out as of yet and don't want to make a start only to have to rebuild completely because the "foundation" was not correct.

Thanks
F

"Flat file" is really jargon. Your input though looks as if it really pertains to a single appraiser visit. However, depending on the situation you might like to cross index the data by appraiser, vehicle make+model+year_of_manufacture etc. For appraiser you might like to have a separate master having details of "his name", locality, speciality - if any - eg. deals with SUVs, etc.

Purely out of interest, can you tell me what VIN stands for? Unique identifier for a vehicle would be actually engine number + chassis number.

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