Database Management- Game Software

Hi there!

This is your friendly neighborhood database monkey. I see you're about to work on the Game Software DB. Awesome! I'd give you a cookie if I had one.

Here's a couple things you should know:

• THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: Much of the work underway now is taking the information in the spreadsheet and entering that into the web database. Column D in the spreadsheet denotes whether or not the item is in the web database. If it's been entered in, the corresponding value should read "True." If not, leave it blank. DO NOT MARK AN ITEM AS BEING IN THE WEB DATABASE UNLESS IT'S ACTUALLY IN THERE. Someone recently entered "True" for a whole slew of items that weren't actually in the web DB. Don't be that guy/girl. Don't make extra work for others.

• Want to add items to the web DB? Awesome! Here's how you do it:

1. Login to the Workerz app as normal.

2. Select 'IAM Resources'.

3. Select 'Equipment Checkout. NOTE: You may get some sort of error message along the lines of not being able to check out equipment. You may not have clearance to do equipment database work. Brian can give you clearance.

4. In the menu just below "Equipment Check Out", select 'Equipment'.

5. In the 'Select Category' drop-down menu, scroll down to 'Game Software' and select it.

6. You'll see several items in the Game Software category. Select any one of them by clicking 'Select' on the far left-hand side of the div that contains the item.

7. A new div will appear under the 'Select Category' drop-down menu that gives you information on the item you selected- Equipment Name, Equipment Description, etc. Make sure to check the 'isActive' box. At the bottom of the div, select 'New'.

8. This will pull up a new div with empty text boxes. Use the information from the spreadsheet to fill in the fields. For Equipment Description, use the back of the box/case, look on the developer's website, or try wikipedia. If all else fails, write your own (just keep it balanced, and keep it rated G).

9. When you're done, select 'Insert.'

10. Now, scroll down to the item, and click 'Select'.

11. In the div at the top containing the item information, select 'Make Instance of Equipment'.

12. In the 'UniqueIdentifier' field, enter the Unique ID from the spreadsheet.

13. Select 'Insert'. If there are multiple copies, repeat as necessary.

14. Go back to the Excel spreadsheet.

15. For the relevant item in the spreadsheet, go to the cell under Column D and set its value to "True."

16. Done!

• Make sure the information in the spreadsheet and the information in the web DB match up perfectly.

• All the games have labels on them with their Unique ID. If you change the Unique ID on the spreadsheet or on the web DB, you have to change the label.

• That said, don't change the Unique ID in either the spreadsheet or the web DB unless you have a very good reason. And by good reason, I mean Brian/Jeff/Huey/Mark/Morgan told you to.

• If you do have a very good reason to change the Unique ID, please follow the naming convention. Look at the other ID's and follow that pattern. It's really not that hard.

• The hardware listed in the spreadsheet (XB360 consoles, etc.) appear to be misplaced. If you can find them, great- make sure the Unique IDs in the spreadsheet match up to the label. Otherwise, don't worry about the hardware right now.

• Most of the web DB Game Software items don't have corresponding images. Feel free to fix that.

Thanks! If you have any questions, feel free to ask James, Tavi, or Morgan.