Simple Simon wrote:
1) Category (sail, motor, motorsailer, trawler, etc,)

Is there a list of these categories? For instance, for cars I
have a list of makes and models. Is it realistic to try and
generate such a list, or are there just too many?


2) Brand

Same question as above.

Thanks.

--
Grunff

The current owner (although how you keep that up to date?)

What about changing it to "Last Known Owner" with a date?

/Martin

Richard Smith wrote:
You may need more than your 6 criteria.

That was just plucked out of air, very flexible.


1^st is it a powerboat with or without accommodation (this covers water
ski boats etc), or is it a sailboat with accommodation (yacht) or
without Dinghy. (Yes I would be curious to know if my Mirror sail No 530
is still around 43 years after it was built).

So we have power/not and accomodation/not.


The next two criteria is builder/manufacturer and their model. Some
boats were built by more than one yard (505 dinghy was built by Parker
boats, Ronda boats and others). However a Moody 41 or a Moody any thing
else will only be built by Moody

It's beginning to sound like providing set selections for things
like builder and model will be impossible. They may have to be
free text fields.



Size can be in feet or meters

Ok, thanks.


The style of Rig maybe a good criterion to have (Bermudan Sloop, Cutter,
Schooner, Ketch etc)

Is providing a list of styles to choose from feasible, or are
there too many?


The current owner (although how you keep that up to date?)

The idea is that the database relies on users to enter + update
info, thereby building up a complete history of the boat's life.


Any Registration info

Like a freetext registration field?


That’s the absolute minimum

Very useful, thanks.

--
Grunff

Obtaining a complete list of all boats would be difficult.
I have little knowledge about recreational motor boats
other than to loath them and the people who blunder
around in them. I don't think they even belong on the water.

As for sailboats, there's a pretty complete list at the following
link. Sailboats are the only thing that counts here in a sailing
group.

http://www.image-ination.com/sailcalc.html

S.Simon


"Grunff" wrote in message ...
Simple Simon wrote:
1) Category (sail, motor, motorsailer, trawler, etc,)

Is there a list of these categories? For instance, for cars I
have a list of makes and models. Is it realistic to try and
generate such a list, or are there just too many?


2) Brand

Same question as above.

Thanks.

--
Grunff

MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Grunff writes:

Dennis Pogson wrote:

Boats have names, unlike cars, so if I were to want to trace a
previously-owned boat, I would want to know 1) power or sail, 2) builder, 3)
type and size, 4) Present and past names of vessel, 5) Present owner's name
and contact details.

Thanks, that's very useful. A couple of Qs:

Type - is there a list of boat 'types', or would that list be so
diverse as to be useless?

There are partial lists. For sailing dinghies (and otehr boats which
might reasonably participate in dinghy-style racing), the portsmouth
yardstick list would be a good starting point. However, many boats
won't be on this list.

Size - AM I right that boat size is always in feet?

No. Metric measurements are quite common, even among older British
designed and built boats, and conversely some French designed and
built boatsare measured in feet!

Furthermore length is not unproblematic, as although the length of the
hull is unlikely to change over the life of a boat, things like
rudders, bowsprits etc are included in the measurement under some
circumstances but not under others.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; If you're doing this for fun, do what seems fun. If you're
;; doing it for money, stop now.
;; Rainer Deyke

Grunff wrote:

It's beginning to sound like providing set selections for things
like builder and model will be impossible. They may have to be
free text fields.

Bad idea - too prone to error, typos, and varying interpretations on how a
name should be entered (like full name, acronym, abbreviated). The net
result is a potential for variations which would make searching more
awkward, since the searcher would have to try and second-guess the
variations and typos.


--
Wally
www.makearatherlonglinkthattakesyounowhere.com
Things are always clearer in the cold, post-upload light.

On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 11:02:48 +0100, Grunff wrote:

Hi all,

I'm currently working on a database for a client which aims to
allow users to trace cars + boats they have owned in the past.
snip

Sadly, I know nothing about boats. So I'm asking for your help.
I need to build up a list of important parameters than can be
used to identify a boat. Not too many, maybe 6 at the most.

If you look at the boat criteria offered at Yach World.com
(http://yachtworld.com/core/uk/listin...earch_form.jsp)

You may find a list of Types that distinguishes between one and
another, as well as the Builder and Hull type.

As far as appropriate length goes, I like the ability to translate
back and forth between feet and meters.

HTH - just dreaming of lurking boats

-k

Wally wrote:

Bad idea - too prone to error, typos, and varying interpretations on how a
name should be entered (like full name, acronym, abbreviated). The net
result is a potential for variations which would make searching more
awkward, since the searcher would have to try and second-guess the
variations and typos.

Yes, obviously it's not desireable - a pick list is much better
- but the question I'm trying to answer is: is generating such a
pick list for the main boat attributes realistic?

--
Grunff

I agree, but there are so many manufacturers and models that to
compile a drop down list will be almost impossible.

I would suggest a very flexible search engine instead.


On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:52:29 GMT, "Wally" wrote:

Grunff wrote:

It's beginning to sound like providing set selections for things
like builder and model will be impossible. They may have to be
free text fields.

Bad idea - too prone to error, typos, and varying interpretations on how a
name should be entered (like full name, acronym, abbreviated). The net
result is a potential for variations which would make searching more
awkward, since the searcher would have to try and second-guess the
variations and typos.

Grunff wrote:

Yes, obviously it's not desireable - a pick list is much better
- but the question I'm trying to answer is: is generating such a
pick list for the main boat attributes realistic?

I should think so - there are/were a finite number of makers and models of
boat, so it's largely a question of research. You can cover the difficult
ones with categories like "one-off", "prototype", etc. Have a means for
users to submit makers and models that you haven't heard of, do some
Googling to verify/correct, and add them to the pick-list.


--
Wally
www.makearatherlonglinkthattakesyounowhere.com
Things are always clearer in the cold, post-upload light.