Re: multi-valued field?

Kevin Kane wrote:
>
> Hi. Is there such a thing in DB2 as a multi-valued field? By this I mean
> that I have a column called, say, AUTOMOBILES. If a person has 2
> cars, then I would like the AUTOMOBILES field of his record to contain
> 2 entries, one for each car.
>
> So, can DB2 handle this, or am I just going to have to cat the
> individual values together into a character string with some kind of
> delimiter?
>

Kevin, in fact you can do almost anything you want to do but it is often NOT wise to do it.

At first blush it sounds like you have found a good case where it is unwise.

If you can flesh out the DETAILS of your OBJECTIVE in constructing a 'multi valued field' perhaps we could help you find an ECONOMICAL way to get what you want and 'stay true' to the ideals of the relational database model. Not to say that you should *always* use a "proper" model for your database(es). But since you can do this in most contexts it is a good to at least try to do it.

If you prefer to charge on by yourself I would suggest that you read some stuff on the ways and means to achive highly 'normalized' models of your data. There are lots of things to read (from the arcane to exquisitely clear.) Which article or book is which depends on your background. I'd suggest you ask a 'trusted' friend who is familiar with you and the literature what to read.

Again, if you reatate your objective with more details (especcially how you intend to *use* this data,) I am sure you will find lots of help here.  

Steve Behman
<sbehman_at_ibm.net> Received on Tue Dec 31 1996 - 00:00:00 CST