Hi, first-time-poster, long-time-MacRumor-reader.
Background: I've been programming for the last 8 years, but it's been mainly web stuff and C++ or Java tools. I once tried my hand at writing a full-blown Cocoa application with a Java code backing, but I didn't get too far because of some Objective-C-only features.
Program I Want to Write: I've been collecting coins for the last ~12 years, and there is no good (or any) cataloging program out there for the Mac (neither OS9 or OSX). Everything I do is kept in an Excel (shudder) spreadsheet, but I've reached a point in my collecting where that's just not working anymore.
So I would like to write a program that would actually have an interface similar to the "Cookbook" application that's being developed over there at mydreamapp.com . I'd like to have an iTunes-like column on the left that has various types of collections that you could drang-and-drop any coin into, a main window with many different fields for various information, an imagewell where an image of the coin could be dropped into, and a printing feature that would set up a text document with selected information to print (such as different information for insurance purposes vs. one to show a potential buyer).
However, with my limited experience in this area, I'm sort of at a loss of where to begin. I'm pretty sure I'd need to learn Objective-C for this, which I'm not opposed to doing, and I know that I'd probably need to learn how to interface with a database, or at least how to randomly access an ASCII text file to store the information in.
Based upon the project I've described, can anyone recommend either (a) what types of technologies I need to look into, and/or (b) a book or online source(s) that would specifically address how to create this type of project?
I know it's a tall order, but I'd appreciate any help here!
Background: I've been programming for the last 8 years, but it's been mainly web stuff and C++ or Java tools. I once tried my hand at writing a full-blown Cocoa application with a Java code backing, but I didn't get too far because of some Objective-C-only features.
Program I Want to Write: I've been collecting coins for the last ~12 years, and there is no good (or any) cataloging program out there for the Mac (neither OS9 or OSX). Everything I do is kept in an Excel (shudder) spreadsheet, but I've reached a point in my collecting where that's just not working anymore.
So I would like to write a program that would actually have an interface similar to the "Cookbook" application that's being developed over there at mydreamapp.com . I'd like to have an iTunes-like column on the left that has various types of collections that you could drang-and-drop any coin into, a main window with many different fields for various information, an imagewell where an image of the coin could be dropped into, and a printing feature that would set up a text document with selected information to print (such as different information for insurance purposes vs. one to show a potential buyer).
However, with my limited experience in this area, I'm sort of at a loss of where to begin. I'm pretty sure I'd need to learn Objective-C for this, which I'm not opposed to doing, and I know that I'd probably need to learn how to interface with a database, or at least how to randomly access an ASCII text file to store the information in.
Based upon the project I've described, can anyone recommend either (a) what types of technologies I need to look into, and/or (b) a book or online source(s) that would specifically address how to create this type of project?
I know it's a tall order, but I'd appreciate any help here!
