Re: storing survey answers of different data types

lawpoop wrote:

> On Apr 22, 6:33 am, cim..._at_hotmail.com wrote:
>> [Snipped]
>>
>>
>> If you are not interested in hacky methods as you claim, please don't
>> expect Roy to post the solution or a link as an immediate
>> satisfactory.  In database design, hacked and immediate solutions are
>> almost synonyms.
>
> I'm not looking for 'immediate satisfactories', I'm look for a
> solution. If the hold-up is the time it might take him to type up a
> response, I'm trying to find ways to work around that. I was thinking
> that maybe he has posted this solution before, perhaps to a newsgroup,
> and so as not to waste any more of his regrettably mortal life, he
> could simply refer me to that thread, or something along those lines.

Your concern for the limit of my remaining span has touched me sufficiently that I will sketch (no more) a solution for you. As cimode says, you won't find a recipe on the net because 99.99% of what is written about database design on the net is purest trash. Scarcely believable, but true.

>> > I'm supremely uninterested in wasting your time. If you give me a few
>> > keywords, I'll google the solution and do all the heavy lifting of
>> > explaining it to myself.
>>
>> The solution Roy refers to is about serious design where very little
>> material of value has been posted on Google.  Grabbing a good book and
>> reading will help you even more.
>
> That sounds wonderful! :) Can you give me a title?

There is considerable debate over which is the best title to start with. If you consider yourself a willing beginner with very limited time, then I might venture *far* into left-field and suggest a long out-of-print book by Fabian Pascal: SQL and Relational Basics (M&T Books, ISBN 1-55851-063-X). It is concise and accurate (especially for its time). I suggest it just to get you in the right frame of mind quickly, and to innoculate you against the crap that is readily and widely available. After you've read that, I might suggest An Introduction to Database Systems by C J Date, though that is not an easy or quick read. If you can make even a little progress with that you won't ever feel the need of a recipe again. I am sure others here will have their personal favorite titles and opinions differ.

>> > > So, do you promise?
>>
>> > Oh what the heck. I promise! :)
>>
>> Be careful what you wish for...
>>
>> You just swallowed the red pill in Matrix...
>
> Oh, is that why I'm standing in a sewer, covered in goo? :)

You too?

Sketch to follow later.

-- 
Roy