someone pls. help me... im desperate! i need to have some idea on how to make a hotel reservation and billing system... Please... lend me a hand.  It will really be appreciated.. Email me..

Hi,
You have a couple of options:
1. Access database with no visual basic code
2. Access database with a visual basic application to read/update the database.

I would recommend that you create your database using Access only and then create a vb application afterwards. This will help you iron out your system design before embarking on a full vb app.

How much knowledge do you have?
What restrictions are there (ie. what computer will this run on, etc.)
How many users?

To start your design, write down in English as complete a description of what you want the system to do.
For example:
I want to write a system that allows the user to reserve hotel rooms and send out bills to clients. I don't know how many rooms are in the hotel, but some of them will be occupied and will not be able to be reserved. All reservations will be for 1 week or more.

Next, take all of the NOUNS from this statement. This will given you an idea of the structure of the information and how it will be used.
For example:
USER, HOTEL, HOTEL ROOM, BILL, CLIENT, RESERVATION

You can imply associations between these items (called Entities in design-speak) from your previous statement.

A HOTEL ROOM may be occupied by a CLIENT
A CLIENT may have one or more RESERVATIONs
A RESERVATION will be associated with a BILL
A CLIENT will receive a BILL
A HOTEL will have one or more HOTEL ROOMs

Your system will have to produce the BILLs, so you will probably need some sort of reports. Do you use Word, Excel, or Access Reports or what? It's up to you - I suggest Access Reports first as they're easy to create and make look pretty.

Each ENTITY (ie. HOTEL, CLIENT, etc.) will have certain information about it, that someone will need to view/edit.
For Example:
CLIENT - to send out a bill, you'll need an Address and Name
RESERVATION - You'll probably need the Room number, and the dates that the reservation is valid for. As you will be sending out a Bill for a reservation, you'll need the Client to send it to.
And so forth...

This should get you started with an idea of what you need to do. This is by no means the only way to get started with an application, but it works for me. Incidentally, this is what a Analyst writes and is usually called a Specification.

Hope this helps,
Kieron



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Build it better, faster, quicker, easier.. then fix it (non-offical MS mission statement)

Hi Kate,
Kierons advice here is very sound. I would just add to it that it obviously helps if you have a knowledge on how a Hotel Reservations Department works. Most hotels that are are not computerised tend to still keep their reservations in a book which has been divided into squares across the page - a bit like a database table really! The columns are usually headed with the date, and the rows are usually the rooms. Then, if there is a booking the square that represents the day + room number has the persons name written into it in pencil. When they actually arrive the name is inked in with a pen so you can see from the Bookings Chart who is resident. This Chart is the centrepoint of a reservations system, so if you can find a way to represent that on screen as your GUI (Graphical User Interface) then you have something that your users can relate to.  You can then add functionality like drag-and-drop to move bookings around to get the best use of bedrooms and maximise occupancy rates.

Of course, how far you go with this depends very much on why you are writing this application. Is this intended to be a REAL application for use in an hotel, or are we talking about a student project to test certain abilities. Some more information here will enable the help offered to you to be more useful.


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multi-tasking - the ability to hang more than one app. at the same time.

As a note to add..

if it's a student project....
keep it in access

if it's for a live actual hotel....
switch the backend to MSDE/SQL/mySQL (if there'll be more than 5 users connected at once)



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