Re: Complicated query

From: Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex_at_attglobal.net>
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 23:01:34 -0500
Message-ID: <m6oaqa$1ur$1_at_dont-email.me>


On 12/15/2014 10:26 PM, Geoff Muldoon wrote:

> In article <m6nug0$lfq$3_at_dont-email.me>, denismfmcmahon_at_gmail.com 
> says...

>>
>> On Tue, 16 Dec 2014 08:41:16 +1100, Geoff Muldoon wrote:
>>
>>> sheldonlg_at_thevillages.net says...
> 

>>>> ...and you don't know what you are talking about. There is ONE row
> for

>>>> each instance and 18 columns, ONE column for ONE answer to each of the
>>>> 18 DIFFERENT questions for THAT instance --- in the design that the
>>>> person (philosopher??) suggested as a single table, NOT the actual
>>>> design that I was working with.
>>>
>>> Hey, I have 18 different people working in my team. So under your
>>> "logic" I don't really need a STAFF table, as I can just put them in one
>>> column each!
> 

>> It's his use of the words "questions" and "answers" which are causing
> the 

>> upset, or rather other people's preconceived interpretations of what
>> exactly questions and answers mean.
>>
>> Think of the questions as being:
>>
>> title?
>> firstname?
>> lastname?
>> dateOfBirth?
>> height?
>> weight?
>> hair colour?
>> eye colour?
>> nationality?
>> ethnicity?
>> sexuality?
>> gender?
>> relationshipStatus?
>> employmentStatus?
>> ......
>>
>> Then it makes perfect sense, for each instance (person) to have 1 record
>> with all their answers in it.
> 
> These are not "questions", they are ATTRIBUTES.  A person can (at any 
> one time) only have one height, one weight.
> 
> But you are right in that unless we are privy to the OPs entity-
> relationship model, we are just making assumptions.  Including as to 
> whether any E-R analysis has even been done.  Which I doubt.
> 
> GM
> 

Geoff, actually I think one was done. Note the OP said someone else designed the database, and from his brief description of the database, it looks to have been properly normalized.

-- 
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Jerry Stuckle
jstucklex_at_attglobal.net
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Received on Tue Dec 16 2014 - 05:01:34 CET

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