how to setup word/access text tables with large volumes of text

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sonomafilms - 19 Dec 2004 19:54 GMT

i have a series of novels in the public domain.I am trying to map the
progress of each character's development through hundreds of chapters by
creating a database/tableswith cells/squares that contain the entire specific
segment of actual text that covers specific events in the story. My idea is
that it might look like an excel worksheet with columns as chapters and rows
for each character and each cell would contain a large amount of text. And
that while the cell might at first keep its original small visible size, I
might be able to click on it to reveal all the info within, also I might be
able to copy or move the entire contents of the cell. Any thoughts or help
would be appreciated. Info storede would include large amounts of text or
maps or graphics of architecture and clothing etc. Any help here would be
greatly appreciated.

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John Nurick - 20 Dec 2004 07:08 GMT

Hi,

From what you've said so far it seems very unlikely that a relational
database system such as Access is the best tool for what you want to do.
Some questions:

1) Are you intending to break each novel into a 100% rigid structure of
chapters, characters and events? IS this really possible? Will you in
fact need to start with a high-level breakdown and then analyse various
episodes in increasing detail, in some sort of iterative or hierarchical
fashion?

2) Is a two-dimensional structure as you describe sufficient? What about
events that are contained in another events, or individual events that
are described in more than one place in the text or from more than one
character's viewpoint, or maps that illustrate more than one part of the
action, and so on?

3) Have you considered using XML? You could tag the various elements of
the text (chapters, episodes, events, descriptions of persons or things,
graphics, names of characters, interactions between characters, anything
else you can define) in as much or little detail as you like, and then
write code that uses an XML parser (or just Word 2003) to pull and
present the data.

>i have a series of novels in the public domain.I am trying to map the
>progress of each character's development through hundreds of chapters by
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>maps or graphics of architecture and clothing etc. Any help here would be
>greatly appreciated.

--
John Nurick [Microsoft Access MVP]

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