sharepoint 2010 Anyone a SharePoint site guru?

[Shadrack]

I'm a newbie at SharePoint and am trying to decide if it is suitable out of the box for an application I'm working on.

I have experience in Access and relational database design in general. This seems like a stripped down approach to that.

Hoping someone who is a SharePoint guru can help answer some questions for me and perhaps help me make some design/structure decisions.

I'm trying to make an Inventory tracking system. A component of this tracking system is a calibration log.

First question I have is in regards to "Lists". If I have a column type of "Choice (menu to choose from)" with the added "Allow 'Fill-in' choices" selected, is there a way to have an option that was filled in by the user added to the drop down list?

What if I want the Choices to be based on a column in another list (in order to create a relationship with an item in another table)?

I could see a list of Devices with some Choice selections (like Manufacturer) where I want to be able to link the Manufacturer to another list.

Am I just abusing the hell out of what the simplicity of a list should be and trying to make this into a relational database when it is not? Thanks.

[HSoft]

First question I have is in regards to "Lists". If I have a column type of "Choice (menu to choose from)" with the added "Allow 'Fill-in' choices" selected, is there a way to have an option that was filled in by the user added to the drop down list?

Yes.

What if I want the Choices to be based on a column in another list (in order to create a relationship with an item in another table)?

Yes you can use lookup columns. Max (recommended by MSFT) of 8 per list.

I could see a list of Devices with some Choice selections (like Manufacturer) where I want to be able to link the Manufacturer to another list.

Not sure what you mean by this. I think you mean a parent/child type scenario which if so then yes.

Am I just abusing the hell out of what the simplicity of a list should be and trying to make this into a relational database when it is not? Thanks.

Yes fairly much. Sharepoint can handle what you want to do but really it isn't the best tool for it. Sharepoint was never really designed to be a replacement for a relational database. You can however create a relational database and have Sharepoint use that (check out BCS).

[Shadrack]

Thanks for your reply.

Ok. I've found some threads of information regarding adding to a list. I did not notice that "lockup column" but it looks like what I am after.

I'm hesitant to go full relational database on this. Quite frankly I've regressed to Excel Spreadsheets after working in relational databases for years because I found them so inflexible (that is how they are by design, I know). Alas, I'm looking for something that may be in-between.

Taking this a step further... lets talk about my "calibration log" part of this task. What I would like is a list called "Calibration Log". A user performs a calibration, and generates a calibration certificate as a 2 page PDF. He then creates a new entry in the Calibration Log where he: Set's the calibration date, sets the new calibration due date, attaches the 2 page PDF as a file, and links this entry to a device.

Now, for the display form of a device I would like it if it would show the last calibration entry as part of the display (realize there maybe 10 calibration log entries, but all I'm interested is the latest one and a link to that PDF). Does that sound like something I could accomplish in SharePoint?

[Shadrack]

I'm attracted to SharePoint for the following reasons:

* User permissions that are tied to our domain controller

* Calendar view is pretty nifty. I would eventually like to populate the Calendar view with all the Calibration Due dates on various items some how.

* The concept of "Workflow" seems to be closely tied to what I am doing. Automatic emails that go out when things happen is desired.

* Adding a column here or there does not mean I have to tinker with every end-user form in order for the users to start using it in SharePoint. Its very automagical in some regard and I like that.

I also want this development to fall under "KISS" (as in, keep it simple stupid). And don't want it to get too far out of hand (as in, I'm willing to live with non-ideal default behaviors as oppose to programming the crap out of getting around them). Otherwise, I'll probably just program my solution from the ground up in something else that I'm use to.

[Shadrack]

Dabbing around a bit more I think this is the right platform for this project. I like a lot of what I am seeing and it seems to fall inline with my goals. I just need to go with the simple approach and try not to get to fancy with it. I always go too far and then nobody but me can ever change anything.