An interesting but laborious task I need to perform, is to look through
a shoebox of old coins and see if there is anything of interest or value
in there. I thought it might be worth making a catalogue of some kind by
database or spreadsheet - a fairly simple card-index type operation.

Is a database the tool for the job? Is Libre Office not too clunky and
compatible with the modern world? Is there some other piece of software
that might be better?

TW

On 11/02/2023 14:23, TimW wrote:
> An interesting but laborious task I need to perform, is to look through
> a shoebox of old coins and see if there is anything of interest or value
> in there. I thought it might be worth making a catalogue of some kind by
> database or spreadsheet - a fairly simple card-index type operation.
>
> Is a database the tool for the job? Is Libre Office not too clunky and
> compatible with the modern world? Is there some other piece of software
> that might be better?
>
> TW

Minutes after posting I see there is a dedicated coin collection program
in the Mint software manager called Open Numismat. I guess that would be
the thing then?

TW

On 2/11/23 09:23, this is what TimW wrote:
> An interesting but laborious task I need to perform, is to look through a shoebox of old coins and see if there is
> anything of interest or value in there. I thought it might be worth making a catalogue of some kind by database or
> spreadsheet - a fairly simple card-index type operation.
>
> Is a database the tool for the job? Is Libre Office not too clunky and compatible with the modern world? Is there some
> other piece of software that might be better?
>
> TW
For simple & fast, Libre Calc should work.
You can sort it by columns easily. Year, denomination, etc, etc
I use it all the time.

On 2023-02-11, TimW <timw@nomailta.co.uk> wrote:
> On 11/02/2023 14:23, TimW wrote:
>> An interesting but laborious task I need to perform, is to look through
>> a shoebox of old coins and see if there is anything of interest or value
>> in there. I thought it might be worth making a catalogue of some kind by
>> database or spreadsheet - a fairly simple card-index type operation.
>>
>> Is a database the tool for the job? Is Libre Office not too clunky and
>> compatible with the modern world? Is there some other piece of software
>> that might be better?
>>

> Minutes after posting I see there is a dedicated coin collection program
> in the Mint software manager called Open Numismat. I guess that would be
> the thing then?
>
What have you got to lose by doing a trial run?

Certainly looks like it would do the job.

On Sat, 11 Feb 2023 12:27:19 -0500, Big Al wrote:
> For simple & fast, Libre Calc should work.
> You can sort it by columns easily. Year, denomination, etc, etc I use
> it all the time.
I second Libre Calc. You have the most options to export and manipulate
your data with.

For some people and their many projects, Libre Calc has replaced Writer
as their tool of choice.

TimW <timw@nomailta.co.uk>:
> An interesting but laborious task I need to perform, is to look through
> a shoebox of old coins and see if there is anything of interest or value
> in there. I thought it might be worth making a catalogue of some kind by
> database or spreadsheet - a fairly simple card-index type operation.
>
> Is a database the tool for the job? Is Libre Office not too clunky and
> compatible with the modern world? Is there some other piece of software
> that might be better?

You could try reCsvEditor.
"Program features include
Supports for very large Files.
Supports just about any character being used as a field separators
Columns can be added, moved and copied.
Field Separator / Quotes can be changed.
Fields can be both hidden and Fixed in position (Right Click Menu)
Multiple File Views are Supported including
Record View - Display a single record with fields going down
the page.
Filtered View - Select Records / Fields to be displayed.
Sorted Tree View - Gives a Sort / Summary of the file
Column View - Rows / Columns swapped.
Files can be exports as Fixed Width Text or Xml or Html"
It's here:
http://recsveditor.sourceforge.net
Download:
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/recsveditor/files/reCsvEditor/Version_0.99.3/>

Yrrah

On 2023-02-11, azigni <azigni@yaoo.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 11 Feb 2023 12:27:19 -0500, Big Al wrote:
>> For simple & fast, Libre Calc should work.
>> You can sort it by columns easily. Year, denomination, etc, etc I use
>> it all the time.
> I second Libre Calc. You have the most options to export and manipulate
> your data with.
>
> For some people and their many projects, Libre Calc has replaced Writer
> as their tool of choice.

I remember when I worked with mailing lists and had to deal with customer's
Excel spreadsheets and turn them into dBASE datases (which is what our
verification software and printers used). It can be done but almost none of
our customers did it well. I kept trying to convince them to use a database
application for this -- so much simpler.

I don't think SQLite would be that hard to learn. I've experimented with it
a little and it seems pretty good. I think there are graphical front-end for
it as well.

--
"Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant, then it tries to silence good."
-- Archbishop Charles J. Chaput