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Case Database Table

The Case Database Table is the table whose rows or columns are matched, scored, and sorted. Records and fields can be arranged horizontally and vertically. Record names and field names are optional: ShowTheBest.Com will create default names if none are supplied. You can create the Case Database Table with an editor or spreadsheet; it can also be dynamically generated by an external program. (ie, a Perl program that calls a SQL DBMS) -- as long as the program generates a tab-delimited text file (whose name is an input parameter) as output.

Here is an example of a Case Database Table in Excel:

The first line of this file specifies the number of rows and columns in the table. Note that the record labels are provided in column A and the field labels are provided in row 2. The total number of rows in this table (including the record labels) is 24; the total number of columns (including the record labels) is 15.

ShowTheBest requires this table to be saved in tab-delimited text format.  This is a file saving option in Excel. An external program that dynamically creates the Case Database Table . also needs to write a file in this format.

Here is an example of the above Case Database Table as viewed in a text editor:

Case Database Table: Matching, Scoring, and Display

The values in the Case Database Table are matched with your user inputs -- either directly or via a Map. All of these values must be consistent with each other: "Apples with Apples and Oranges with Oranges." This means, for example, that matches inolving numbers requires a field to be all numbers; matches involving text require a field to be all text.

Sometimes you may have to carefully design a Case Database Table to achieve this. For example, suppose a price value in the table is $20-50. How do we model this? Here are several alternatives:

• Model the value as a number.
  Set the value in the Database Table to 20. Just make sure you make the value a number by removing the $. If your user types "20" in the value's input widget then there will be an exact match. If your user types "30" then there will be a partial match: the intermediate score will be 0.66 for this value (20/30). You can set the value in the Database Table to 50. Or to 35 (the average). The choice will affect the match.
• Model the value as a several numbers
  Creating a new record that differs only in this value, for example:
  Set the value in Record A in the Table Database to 20.
  Set the value in Record B in the Table Database to 50.
  If your user types "20" then there will be an exact match for Record A and a partial match (0.4) for Record B.
• Model the value as a Simple Text
  Set the value in the Case Database Table to $20-50. If your user types "$20" in the value's input widget then there will be an exact match. So will "20". But "25" won't match. (If your user is told how to use wildcards, then "2*" will match. But "3*" won't.)
• Model the value as a Selection Map.
  Suppose "Cheap" denotes the price range $0-$19; "Moderate" denotes the price range $20-$60; and "Expensive" denotes the price range $61-$200. Then we map $20-50 by setting its value in the Case Database Table to "Moderate."
• Model the value as a Text Formula Map
  Set the value in the Case Database Table to $20-50. Suppose "Cheap" denotes the formula (data= "$2*") "Moderate" denotes theformula(data="$3*")+(data= "$4*"); and "Expensive" denotes the formula(data>"$5*"). Then if this Case Database Table value will return a match for the "Cheap" formula selection.
• Model the value as a Number Formula Map
  This assumes the Database Table value is a number.