Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2013 - 63

Figure 9. Character Budget Report

This informaTion can
help managers make
informed business
decisions and
can help Them
spend less
Time behind
Their desks
and more Time
collaboraTing
wiTh designers and
direcTors.
creating a BI solution for your own theatre, below are some of
the things you'll need to know.
There are two basic types of databases: flat and relational.
Flat databases (also called Flat File databases) store information in individual records on one large table (think of an Excel
spreadsheet). You can easily search, sort, and edit specific records or groups of records in a flat database. Relational databases, like Access, also store information in individual records,
but the records are organized into separate tables of similar data
with links connecting (relating) the tables to each other. When
you begin to build a database, the first step is to define what information you want to track and to analyze how the bits of data
relate to one another.
The Overhire Tracking database we're going to design is
a relational database using Access. We won't get into how to
program specific data entry forms, reports, or queries, so if
you prefer to use another database program, say FileMaker
for Apple computers, the basic design concepts discussed
below should translate to any relational database. You can
find a copy of this overhire database on the USITT website
at http://tdt.usitt.org/MyOverhire.zip. Feel free to try it out
or alter it to fit your own organization's needs. [Editor's
note: after downloading and opening this Zip archive,
you will need a copy of Microsoft Access to open the file
MyOverhire.accdb.]
The overhire database can be used to keep track of overhires and track labor expenses by show, or to track student
work calls and assign grades. It includes contact information,
positions held, including hourly rate, productions worked,
and a rating of the work performed.
An easy way to begin planning a database is to simply

draw a picture of what you think it would look like on your
computer screen. Draw one picture for how you would enter
data and one for what a report would look like.
In my sketch of this database (fig. 10), I also started
making notes on where tables would be needed and where
fields would need to connect to other tables. We should be able
to create our overhire database using only three tables: an Employee Table for tracking basic information about employees
(name, address, phone, etc.), as well as information about their
position and salary; a Show Table for tracking productions
or work calls; and a Timesheet Table for tracking hours
worked and performance evaluation.
EMPLOYEE_TABLE

EmployeeID (*)
FullName
Street1
Street2
City
State
Zip
Phone
Email
Position
PayRate
Notice the asterisk following the EmployeeID field. This
identifies this field as a primary key which is unique in any
given record, or row of data in a table. For example, you
may have four different John Smiths who work for you, but
each one can be distinctly identified in the database because
they each have a different Employee ID. Access makes it easy
s u m m e r 2013

theatre design

& technology

http://tdt.usitt.org/MyOverhire.zip

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