front end options for entering data into an oracle database

Hi,

I need to set up a generic table in Oracle that allows users to enter
data that can later be retrieved in reports.

I was thinking of a 3 column table in this structure:

DATE,ITEM,VALUE

figuring that you can store anything in this way because ITEM can be
anything and you can have multiple instances of a particular value by
having a new date.

Does that seem reasonable?

In any case, what are my user front end options? I was thinking a
Microsoft Access database but its not ideal because not everyone here
has Access?

Can you do it with Excel? Or what other options are there as a simple
user front end to enter the data?

Thanks for any advice.

Kimanasttin@.excite.com wrote:

> Hi,
> I need to set up a generic table in Oracle that allows users to enter
> data that can later be retrieved in reports.
> I was thinking of a 3 column table in this structure:
> DATE,ITEM,VALUE
> figuring that you can store anything in this way because ITEM can be
> anything and you can have multiple instances of a particular value by
> having a new date.
> Does that seem reasonable?

No. It's a classic design error that defeats most of the reasons why we
use a DBMS at all.

http://tonyandrews.blogspot.com/200...n-mistakes.html

Also, this is a Microsoft SQL Server group. You'll most probably get
more help in an Oracle-specific group.

--
David Portas, SQL Server MVP

Whenever possible please post enough code to reproduce your problem.
Including CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements usually helps.
State what version of SQL Server you are using and specify the content
of any error messages.

SQL Server Books Online:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/...US,SQL.90).aspx
--