[AccessD] Normalizing food types

James Button jamesbutton at blueyonder.co.uk
Fri Dec 11 10:52:58 CST 2015


Considering foodstuffs,  that will need a basic stock control facility for in
(from, and what calorific/fibre/fat and trace/mineral content) and out (to)
Instructions to the staff not to mix batches of food at delivery to the stores,
so the feeding values can be accurately calculated.
And - you will need the records to include indications of the applicable limits
(min, max, and optimum) per animal - with related data as to applicable weight
of animal for the calculations, with an additional factor of the number of
creatures in the group when feeding is by group.

Well, if you don't have that sort of detail, then what is the use of the system
to the animal managing staff, and the establishment management.

To me, that looks like so much work for the staff to enter the details and the
daily feedings (maybe 6 a day?)
BUT without that level of data, what use is the facility.

Now - about the pay grading's of the additional data entry staff, and the
section manager (new post 4 U?)
And - there will need to be additional devices for the input stations, an
upgraded network, and because of the volume of data, possibly an improved backup
process and device - more capacity and speed       

- 

Sort of how I stopped having to keep reworking 'stuff' for one of my employers
American managers  
Yes - that can be done, can I have a budget code for the costs - well at least
for the expenses associated with costing the work
And never heard another word about the reworking! - nothing in the way of a
budget allocation either!

JimB 


-----Original Message-----
From: AccessD [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of FW
Salato Center
Sent: Friday, December 11, 2015 3:18 PM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: [AccessD] Normalizing food types

Let's continue our discussion of the animal db and what I'm tackling today. :)

I told you that we're adding food - what the animals eat, when they eat it, how
much, what's removed, and so forth. For many of the animals, they food intake is
very important. Some of them, like the groups we discussed yesterday, not so
much. I'll track how much they added to the hoppers and on what day, but that's
it.

But, we have a few animals that complicate all this - especially those where
food is used in daily training or going into tupor - many variables.

So, I have a lookup table of food types and a second lookup table of sizes
because - did you know that mice come in about 10 different sizes? :)

An animal might receive many different types at one feeding. For instance, the
groundhog on any given day will go through several grams of rabbit pellets,
rodent biscuits, and fresh vegetables and fruits, and almonds. Each is measured
in and out, twice a day. So, I have five records, right? Well, I'm not sure. Do
I have a record for each food type given at each feeding? That's what I'm
thinking - so on most days, she would end up with five records in twice - the
five types of food. The outtake, would be what's left over, but potentially four
types twice a day. We don't need to list each fruit or vegetable by type - I'll
add a comment section where they can be specific - note what she seems to like,
not like, and that sort of thing.

Yeah... I'm thinking a possibility of 20 or more records a day just for one
animal. The form can handle a lot of it by setting defaults, but this will
probably be updated about once a month rather than daily - the AC staff use a
paper form at each exhibit to track food and someone will be entering after the
fact. So, I'm trying to think of data input ease as well as the right way to do
things underneath and it needs to be flexible enough to handle treats and other
unusual offerings - so it could even be more than 20, especially when they're
training - a lot of treats and things are measured out when they're training.

Training and feeding are really two different functions, but structurally, it's
all food.

I could let use a multi-select list control and build a string that's dumped
into a combined food field and then offer a total in and out amount for each
feeding rather than tracking the amount in and out for each food type. As sure
as I go this route, someone will want to know how many grams of "almonds" the
groundhog ate on a specific day. We actually ran into that with the skunks
because apparently... a skunk can eat too many. ;) Poor little guy, he had an
upset tummy  and I had to take him to the vet.

I'm inclined to just set it up right from the get-go - I think this is one of
those instances where they will want more rather than less... on the other hand,
because these records won't be updated daily, they'll be looking at the paper
charts for immediate attention, not asking me. It's a small staff and they pay
close attention and stop offering foods that they don't like and note those
things - share the information.

I think I've talked myself into it just writing it all out for you guys, but I'm
interested in your thoughts.

I need to go back to the boss and ask him why we're tracking all this - what's
he hoping to learn? If it's just a matter of storing, we have it all on paper
logs already. Duplicating the logs isn't helpful or efficient. I need more
information. :) I thought I knew what he wants, but apparently, I don't.

Susan H.
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