Subsystems
We can break the database design into four parts, Administration, Evidence, Interpretation and Conclusions.
Administration
The Administration area of the database is the least developed section, only the basic minimum is being implemented. A System table hold basic system wide settings. A version table will enable an automatic update process to be developed, for when changes are made to the database design. The User subsystem holds per user system settings and details of the researchers that have contributed to the database. The Contact subsystem stores contact information for any part of the system that requires it.
Evidence
The evidence section centres around the Reference table which is supported by the Source, Citation and Repository subsystems.
Interpretation
This is the area where the main work is done. The information presented in the Evidence section is broken down into its constituent parts: Sources, Dates, Places, Names, Relationships and Events. Events and Personas are used to glue all these entities back together again so the computer program can make use of it.
Conclusions
The Individuals and Family relationships are the results of the interpretion of the evidence, using various tables to tie things back to the interpretation.
