Re: Normalization, Natural Keys, Surrogate Keys

From: Jeremy Smith <alceste_at_xmission.xmission.com>
Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 06:40:07 +0000 (UTC)
Message-ID: <ad75s7$cff$1_at_terabinaries.xmission.com>


> table" to store various codes. This is something I've often seen in
> IMS and various btrieve-based databases and I don't believe belongs
> anywhere in a relational model. <<

Can someone clarify what exactly is meant by "code table?" The product I'm looking at makes extensive use of code tables to map multiple names to a single concept. For instance, if we're talking about products, the code table would be something like this:

Item code	Name (PK)
---------       ----
41		Bicycle
41		Bike
42		Harley-Davidson
42		Harley
43		Corvette
43		Vette


This is to map multiple names onto a single concept. I'm not sure how this violates any database principles--it's just a mapping of nomenclature.

Jer Smith
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
Jer
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A Received on Fri May 31 2002 - 08:40:07 CEST

Original text of this message