Path: dp-news.maxwell.syr.edu!spool.maxwell.syr.edu!drn.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.vmunix.org!npeer.de.kpn-eurorings.net!border2.nntp.ams.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!not-for-mail From: Kenneth Downs Newsgroups: comp.databases.theory Subject: Re: The MySQL/PHP pair Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 07:52:34 -0500 Lines: 30 Message-ID: References: <6oqqlc.8nm.ln@mercury.downsfam.net> <1099431388.630616.174500@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> <_I8jd.304061$wV.283817@attbi_s54> <672dncqO-rSO7wzcRVn-vQ@adelphia.com> Reply-To: sameas@email.address Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit X-Trace: news.uni-berlin.de sRJ6eTqNXV8GCf9jp/v1jwhnGLObKWvncEyzmHd2Cwk/1E5Gmy X-Orig-Path: pluto.downsfam.net!news User-Agent: KNode/0.7.7 Xref: dp-news.maxwell.syr.edu comp.databases.theory:28069 "Bill H" wrote: >> >> So my original question was about 1NF. You stated that 1NF will not > support >> auditable systems, but it seems to me that we will violate 3NF, not 1NF. >> Did I mistake your meaning? > > I really don't want to quibble about this 1NF stuff. You've noted the > problems. They exist. We, as developers, deal with them every day. I'll > bet you do too. Normalization is a rule that needs to be broken for a > variety of reasons. So many reasons, in fact, that one questions the > rule. > :-) > For my own sanity I have been able to come up with a rule on normalization that I have yet to break. Ruthlessly Normalize all user-entered data (even if the user is an EDI routine supplying the information). The only denormalization is the audit/automation information which is built on top of the normalized columns. This requires the general constraint that a direct INSERT or UPDATE statement cannot affect audit/automated columns, but after that you have the best of both worlds. -- Kenneth Downs Use first initial plus last name at last name plus literal "fam.net" to email me