Re: A question of DB Design.

If this is a personal contacts system for light home use, then one address might barely do. For any other use you should allow for multiple addresses - home, work, etc. etc. - just as you'd allow for multiple phone numbers, multiple email addresses and so on.

Spouses should not be linked as such. Each should have his/her own entry. What will happen when your friends get divorced?

Each person may have more than one relationship to you. Business associate, friend, relative, supplier, service provider etc. Allow for multiples.

Since you've already tried one cut at a design and realized it needed work, you're probably ready to do a little reading. Try "Data Modeling Esseentials" by Simsion. If you're going to use Oracle you may as well start with an intelligent database design.

Van

Mark A. Framness <mframness_at_NOSPAM.lakefield.net> wrote in message news:8Sd1uPikEGru-pn2-rZwd6MUvnmji_at_www.framnett.net...
> Hi!
>
> I am designing a personal contacts management system using an Oracle 7.3
DB
> server, Lotus Domino Go Pro Webserver and CGI along with Netscape.
>
> I have done some things right already but am starting over. A couple of
> issues have come up.
>
> First off I am assuming each person will have one address, though it is
> possible for two people to have identical addresses (e.g. the person and
> their spouse who may or may not end up as a separate entry in my persons
> table). The question I have is would it be best to have a separate table
> for addresses and reference the persons table or should I just lump
address
> information into the persons table?
>
> Second the issue of a spouse. Now if two of my friends are married then
> each would have a separate entry in the persons table. Now I am thinking
> that if the spouse is also a friend then I would like to refer back to the
> spouses entry. Essentially I would have a foreign key referencing a field
> in the table itself. Of course I could just put a name in their and be
> done with it. Now would I gain anything by referencing the spouse in the
> table itself?
>
> table
> ========
> name spouse Link key
> AB CD CD1 AB1
> CD AB AB1 CD1
>
> Link would be a foreign key that references the key field of the same
> table.
>
>
> Would a circular situation illustrated above cause problems?
>
> Thanks
>
>
> From: Mark A. Framness
> http://netnet.net/~farmer/
> mframness_at_lakefield.net
>
> Go Pack Go!
> Oh balsam tree oh balsam tree I see you when I deer hunt!
> Brian Framness
Received on Wed Dec 22 1999 - 18:28:05 CST