Forum Discussion

katlyncowley's avatar
katlyncowley
Qrew Assistant Captain
6 years ago

Inventory Troubles

I am in the process of building an app to track inventory. The biggest problem that I face is that some items are tracked by serial number, while others are tracked by quantity. I want to be able to use my Purchase Order table to input the quantity purchased, then create that many new records in my inventory table (where I can input the serial numbers if need be) when I click a checkbox. Alternatively, I wouldn't mind inputting the serial numbers in the PO, but quantities could range from 1-200, and creating 200 separate "serial number" fields (and then automations after) seems like a lot of extra work that can probably be avoided.

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Katlyn Allen
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  • If I were doing this with a client, I would make a table of records numbered from say 1 to 1000. Call this Serial Source. 

    Then I'd make a formula URL button to set a value on a focus record with the values needed to create the child records and then look those up down to the Serial Source table and then execute a saved table to table import. 


    This would be all in one click. It's too much explanation to provide all the code if you have not done URL formula buttons before, so I'd probably need to have you book an hour or so with me to get this working. 



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    Mark Shnier (YQC)
    Quick Base Solution Provider
    Your Quick Base Coach
    http://QuickBaseCoach.com
    mark.shnier@gmail.com
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    • katlyncowley's avatar
      katlyncowley
      Qrew Assistant Captain
      I have set up URL buttons before, but wouldn't be opposed to setting up time with you. What would be the best way to go about that?

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      Katlyn Allen
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      • MarkShnier__You's avatar
        MarkShnier__You
        Icon for Qrew Legend rankQrew Legend
        Just shoot me an email using the email in my signature line

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        Mark Shnier (YQC)
        Quick Base Solution Provider
        Your Quick Base Coach
        http://QuickBaseCoach.com
        mark.shnier@gmail.com
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  • Katlyn,

    1. Do you have Pipelines yet?   During the webinar they said there was going to be a For Next loop.  If it really will loop on a field [Quantity] creating child records, this is easy.
    2. PHP Script.  This would be a simple script for someone familiar with the Quick Base API


    On a related note what is your architecture for the Inventory Transaction?   What do your tables look like to manage increasing and relieving the Inventory?  Does your structure allow you to enter a record with a quantity and serial number at the same time?   The downside is that you could have:

    Record ID#:  1234
    Quantity :      2
    Serial Number:   654321

    The system would claim that you have two parts with the same serial number.   At year end when you have to do Inventory Adjustments after a count, you ability for those offsetting transactions would be very difficult.

    Good luck and I hope the design question is helpful now while you are building instead 12 months into operations.



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    Don Larson
    Paasporter
    Westlake OH
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    • katlyncowley's avatar
      katlyncowley
      Qrew Assistant Captain
      No, I do not. I just learned about Pipelines yesterday, but it's not something we're looking to use yet. I will keep trying, thank you!

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      Katlyn Allen
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