Re: two nasty schemata, union types and surrogate keys

> Tell me what you think, and sorry for going into essay length. <

The natural key for persons all around the globe that comes to my mind would be some DNA profile, what would however not be a practical solution (difficult to get, too long, data protection issues).

But what about using an artificial key? I. e. create your own encoding scheme, for example SMITHPA00001 for a person called "Paul Smith". Being fixed lenght, possibly with a check digit at the end. Some difficulties may arise with asian languages, where you would have to transcribe them first.

Could be worth a try, prior you go with a surrogate or physical locator instead.

brgds

Philipp Post Received on Fri Sep 18 2009 - 16:18:59 CEST