Re: Designing people and organization management for Emacs

[Christopher Dimech <dimech@gmx.com>]

> Sent: Friday, December 04, 2020 at 2:38 PM
> From: "Jean Louis" <bugs@gnu.support>
> To: "Eric S Fraga" <e.fraga@ucl.ac.uk>
> Cc: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org
> Subject: Re: Designing people and organization management for Emacs
>
> * Eric S Fraga <e.fraga@ucl.ac.uk> [2020-12-04 12:57]:
> > Some people use org-contacts (can be found in the org contrib package)
> > for this.  I use bbdb.
>
> Yes. I was using text files and spreadsheets, bbdb. Before many years
> I switched to database backed management of any data that is
> structured. And no, org-contacts or BBDB cannot replace the power of
> SQL databases. 204111 contacts are in my database each available at
> few key presses related.

What would happen for things were database model does not fit the data?

> Contacts are related to "products", BBDB without much development
> cannot provide easy relation to products. Related to "calls" where
> none of available Emacs software can initiate calls or handle a call
> center with track record when each customer have been called and
> why. This is trivial with SQL. Relation to "cashaccounts" to track
> financial transaction of each person. Or relation to "comments" to
> track who commented on which other piece of information in a database
> based Emacs. Or "contactskills" that one can make list of related to
> recruitment and hiring of staff. Or "emails", where each email can be
> related to contact ID and vice versa. Which "identity" belongs to
> which contact? People use private and business identities and
> integration of such is not easy. Sometimes by error email is sent from
> private identity to business. "locations" are related to people, there
> are places we record by using GPS and waypoints that have to be
> remembered, "mailings" are sent to people and have to be remembered
> which person received which email as not to repeat it. Then "notes",
> "opportunities", "relations" to other people, "reminders", "invoices",
> "sms" and so on.
>
> Many things may be rapidly developed in Emacs with database
> backing. Database backed people and information management is
> extremely useful.

Quite correct.

> I wish Emacs would have at least GDBM built in. Module will come to
> GNU ELPA soon for PostgreSQL. Developers of it need help on how to
> include it.
>
> When data is in the database it can be easily backed up, shared,
> replicated in real time, multi user collaboration is built-in. Groups
> of people may enter contacts, organizations, notes, tasks, manage
> projects together, and work on separate distant computers while
> collaborating on same database information. Much programming becomes
> redundant or easy peasy as database has so many features very easy to
> implement.
>
> Jean
>
>