What’s the best way to store medication inventory data on a single computer?

Before choosing the storage format, clarify the project requirements and design the data model. Think about medications, quantities, expiration dates, suppliers, residents, and stock changes, then decide which fields and relationships are needed. Normalizing the schema will help avoid duplicate or inconsistent data.

SQLite is probably the best starting point. It’s a small database that stores everything in a local file, so you don’t need to install or manage a separate server. It also handles structured records and searches much better than manually managing text files.

A CSV file could work for a very simple inventory-only prototype, especially if you’re just tracking medication names and quantities. However, it becomes awkward once you need relationships, multiple users, history, or reliable updates. Also, don’t put identifiable patient information in an unprotected CSV file.

Be careful with privacy and security. Medication or patient data may be subject to healthcare privacy requirements, so confirm what information the nursing home actually expects you to store and what safeguards are required. If SQLite is used, protect the database with appropriate access controls and encryption rather than treating it like an ordinary file. Also confirm that one-computer access is genuinely acceptable and have a plan if the app later needs to work from multiple computers; that could require a shared database or hosted service instead.