New project....need help

Hey guys

I am working on a project that involves developing a new database system for a company to improve their data capture and part tracking abilities.

I have built a new database which is accessed from webpages to create reports and insert information etc. Now what I am wanting to do is create a button in solidworks that when clicked will open up a window with options that need to be filled out by the user, this saves them then inserting the data onto the database manually. The database will then post back the part number (generated sequentially) which the part will be saved as, it will also post back the location of where to save the part.

I am a beginner programmer, 6 weeks ago i had never written a line of code in my life but I am slowly learning Visual Basic. I was thinking I would be able to use Microsoft Visual Studio to create an application, then when the button in solidworks is clicked it runs this program; Im assuming this is reletively straight forward? Is there another more beneficial way of doing this?


Also I was wondering if you guys knew what information solidworks stores on a part and how it can be retrieved? For example: Would it be possble that when an assembly is saved it stores all the names of the parts that are within that assembly? etc etc

Your help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

SolidworksApi macros