Re: Help me design a table

On Mar 17, 10:03 am, "Anoop" <anoopkum..._at_gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mar 17, 2:49 am, sybra..._at_gmail.com wrote:
>
>
>
> > On 16 Mar 2007 18:32:47 -0700, "Anoop" <anoopkum..._at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > >I need to design a table with the following columns. It is a table
> > >that will be read by a 3rd party product which allows little
> > >customization. The columns would be something like these:
>
> > >id - primary key
> > >bank - non null (varchar(100))
> > >access - non null (varchar(100))
>
> > >The requirement is that every "id" can have multiple "bank"'s
> > >associated with it and each of those banks can have an (a single)
> > >"access" associated with it.
> > >In order to satisfy this requirement, I suggested that we have have
> > >the "bank" column contain a comma separated list - and similarly - the
> > >"access" column will have comma separated values. And example of a row
> > >is like this:
>
> > Do you call this 'design'? It is just a MESS, because it is fully
> > denormalized. Consequently it can't be updated properly.
> > I would recommed you go to school and ask your money back.
>
> > Next time, please do your homework before posting, and don't ask such
> > ridiculous questions.
>
> > --
> > Sybrand Bakker
> > Senior Oracle DBA
>
> Oh no this is not homework...It is my work. It is ridiculous I agree.
>
> I know how to normalize tables and have done a lot of normalization.
> The problem here is that I cannot attempt normalization as the product
> I am using offers an interface that needs a single table with a
> primary key. Had it been a simple normalization of data it would have
> been a lot easier and I would not have had to post this question
> here....

A couple of thoughts come to mind ..

First, you say you are constrained by the application, yet you say you are writing code to access the table. Is that apart from the app's own code? It not, then it sounds like you have acess to the data before the packaged app sees it, in which case I'd think you could go ahead and normalize your table design. But perhaps I misunderstand.

Second, if this really is a legitimate project at a legitimate job (not homework).... then it is evidence of astounding stupidity on the part of people at higher pay-grades than yourself. You might want to seriously consider seeking employment elsewhere. I know it is easy to tell someone else to find a different job, when it's not *my* rent that has to be paid. But I just recently escaped from a company that was habitually going down the same path ... purchasing s****y software, then bludgeoning the DBA's for not being able to make said s****y software sing, dance, and print money 24x7x365. It was worth the $500/month pay cut to preserve my sanity and health. Received on Sun Mar 18 2007 - 08:27:27 CDT