@matigo Thanks for the help, I hadn't even considered SQLite.
@matigo Hmm. I may settle for SQLite at the moment, and use a spreadsheet when on the phone, which would be pretty easy to import afterwards…I think.
@matigo Well when Dropbox has conflicts, it prompts you, or makes 2 files. Either way, it does its best to avoid any data loss and plays it safe.
Really, I want to keep this simple and cheap, which is why I want to stick with Dropbox if it's at all possible (even if it means having to remember to close the file on all other devices every time).
The structure of this DB is so simple that it could be done in Excel in as little as 2 sheets — data entry would just be a lot more painful.
My priorities are to get out of Filemaker's closed system and to streamline data entry. To put it into perspective, on an average week I probably create 5 records in the entire DB, but after a weekend of tasting, I might spend 2–3 hours transcribing my handwritten notes from the provided catalogue. The whole deal with at least data entry, if not querying and reports, working on iOS is so that I can edit the DB directly when on vacation, as opposed to my current system of entering notes into text files and then transferring them into the DB once home.
@matigo This does work purely as a storage system, but makes data entry a little more of a hassle (unless I made a form-like app purely for that system). How would reports work? Are there report builders designed to deal with this kind of structure? How would I migrate the existing data from Filemaker/csv to this structure?
@matigo It looks like SQLite would be possible even with iOS, as apps like SQLed [itunes.apple.com] can access databases stored on Dropbox. I would just have to make sure that I closed the file on a device after editing.
@matigo Maybe I missed out some detail. Basically, I don't have any sort of server ATM, Dropbox aside — but you can't run MySQL off of Dropbox, only sync the data file.
What I want ideally is to have a database on Dropbox — or some other location that all my devices can access — that I can use to store all my tasting notes. In a perfect situation, I would have a form like below:
winekey
> date
> type
> winery
> region
> year
> name
> grape1
> grape2
> grape3
> ---
> winekey
> winenoteskey
> smell
> taste
> rating
> other notes
> ---
> Submit button
The first part of the form would make an entry into the Wines table. The second half would go into the Wine Notes table.
Ideally I would be able to do this at any time from any device, but that seems to be quite complicated without doing MySQL server, so I would also settle for just a file that isn't Filemaker that could only be open on one machine at a time (though in this scenario I wonder how the iOS side would work, if at all).