7/2006  cat-chat.txt

These are preliminary discussions (more like random notes) on 
elements for organizing data in the Dealer dbf for eventual use 
in producing displays and webpages.

In actual use the abbreviations are in parentheses:  (US) 
(in the Specialty text field) in the form:

=========================================================
"United States (US), United Nations (UN), ..."         
=========================================================

(note the use of double quotes in the Specialty field is to indicate 
to a parser (a program or person which extracts data for use) 
to use the text between the quotes on an 'as is' basis in listings 
for the regular web pages. 
(this is what you should see on the page less the double quote marks)

Where multiple records are or can be used then order is 'as is' 
(sequential record access) or directed by the presense of a 
numbering system in the Category field as follows: (1), (2) ...)
Maximum line lengths s/b established so..... a ruler: ..... but first:

In order to have a use for all this it s/b understood what the
goal is:  Record data for use in a web pages & displays.  Many 
web pages already exist and what is happening here is to
record (and refine) those pages in a data base and add new listings. 
(currently using MS Access in MS Ofc 2000)


Now, back to the ruler:

w/<font size=-1> a somewhat relative matter but appears about 2/3 
the size of what you see here & page flipping shows the 1st line of
the example (bar ( | ) to bar):

         |start    actual size                end.|

Example:
<dd>Their 'Foreign Business Department' communicates in English.
<dd>JPA is an Agent for over 35 countries in Japan. 
<dd>(website is in Japanese only)
(I've chosen the dealer page for Japan to use for an example.)

the ruler tell us:
<dd>123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 = 60
             1         2         3         4         5         6

the 1st line is 60 characters long and, at the font size
stated and fits what I want to see (in MS Explorer).


that leaves:
1234567890123456789012345678 (28)  
28 characters for a second cell for ads and/or index list on the right.

More background:
The 1st descriptive line, and eventally all of them, begin w/'<dd>'
- the indent command in html, the left edge being reserved
for address data for the vendor. At least currently, but this is in
flux... (contrast California w/ Japan)

in essense:
----------------
Name
address
  >description
----------------

The ultime goal: 
List alphabetically in indexes and by zip code 
(geographically) in the county (or state/province/county) page.

Example in Calif.:

zip:  |data:
----------------------------
91805 ABC Co.
      123 Street
      City
      >description...
----------------------------

And to the right, eventually, we may list all cross indexing done in 
the name of said co. or dealer.....vendor.....offeror.  ..hmmmm.....



                            E X A M P L E


                  (regular listing area)             |    (index list)   |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
91805 ABC Co.                                        |United Nations     |
      123 street                                     |US-Possessions     |
      city...                                        |US-Possesions-Exp. |
      Expertization: UN, US Possessions...           |UN-Expertization   |
      Sells Postal History of the UN...              |UN-Postal History  |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------|

or something like this.
probably put the index list in smaller print.

I tend to think this is a bit over-kill.... especially for a free listing.
..but useful for the moment to track the work.....

(zip codes may not be the best in a human sense and we will be working in
the background on community and regional naming..but are less precise than
a street address.  Perhaps link the zip to a map...like Google....)

But, none the less, the Specialty/Category terms will be used to create 
index entries.

The effect desired is the form of listing above and a topical index 
more or less as follows (in two columns):




-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            T O P I C A L     I N D E X
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

	UNITED STATES (US)                |      ZAIRE - SEE: CONGO, DPR
          (vendor name, pg link)          |
          USPS, USA                       |
          HE Harris, .us-GA               |
                                          |
          US - Discount Postage           |
               Joe Luft, .us-WI           |
                                          |
          US - Quality Grade              |
               (vendor name,pg link)      |


.
.
.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is probably the one truly useful area this whole site serves - a
resonably comprehensive index.

Now, I think the original idea was to deal with 'Category' items 
which will be the prime area for creating the index...
- see: cat-abbrv.txt