Hi everyone,
I have already raised this question twice but had no satisfactory answer, so I
am hereby trying again:
Generally I think it is a great idea to specify the Nullable, NotNull,
AutoGenerated capabilities of a column with an enum rather than boolean as
before.
The main advantage is the readability of the data model definition.
Currently we're using an enumeration called DataMode simply because I could not
think of a better name at the time.
But I don't think the name is good. There must be something better.
This is what it looks like at the moment:
// Example for "DataMode"
DEPARTMENT_ID = addColumn("DEPARTMENT_ID", DataType.AUTOINC, 0,
DataMode.AutoGenerated, "DEP_ID_SEQUENCE");
NAME = addColumn("NAME", DataType.TEXT, 80,
DataMode.NotNull);
HEAD = addColumn("HEAD", DataType.TEXT, 80,
DataMode.Nullable);
BUSINESS_UNIT = addColumn("BUSINESS_UNIT", DataType.TEXT, 4,
DataMode.NotNull, "ITTK");
UPDATE_TIMESTAMP= addColumn("UPDATE_TIMESTAMP", DataType.DATETIME, 0,
DataMode.AutoGenerated);
Since the enum reflect the update capabilities of a column how about UDC (short
for update capabilities):
// Example for "Udc"
DEPARTMENT_ID = addColumn("DEPARTMENT_ID", DataType.AUTOINC, 0,
UDC.AutoGenerated, "DEP_ID_SEQUENCE");
NAME = addColumn("NAME", DataType.TEXT, 80,
UDC.NotNull);
HEAD = addColumn("HEAD", DataType.TEXT, 80,
UDC.Nullable);
BUSINESS_UNIT = addColumn("BUSINESS_UNIT", DataType.TEXT, 4,
UDC.NotNull, "ITTK");
UPDATE_TIMESTAMP= addColumn("UPDATE_TIMESTAMP", DataType.DATETIME, 0,
UDC.AutoGenerated);
What about Caps
// Example for "Caps"
DEPARTMENT_ID = addColumn("DEPARTMENT_ID", DataType.AUTOINC, 0,
Caps.AutoGenerated, "DEP_ID_SEQUENCE");
NAME = addColumn("NAME", DataType.TEXT, 80,
Caps.NotNull);
HEAD = addColumn("HEAD", DataType.TEXT, 80,
Caps.Nullable);
BUSINESS_UNIT = addColumn("BUSINESS_UNIT", DataType.TEXT, 4,
Caps.NotNull, "ITTK");
UPDATE_TIMESTAMP= addColumn("UPDATE_TIMESTAMP", DataType.DATETIME, 0,
Caps.AutoGenerated);
Or Mod (short for Modifier)?
// Example for Mod
DEPARTMENT_ID = addColumn("DEPARTMENT_ID", DataType.AUTOINC, 0,
Mod.AutoGenerated, "DEP_ID_SEQUENCE");
NAME = addColumn("NAME", DataType.TEXT, 80,
Mod.NotNull);
HEAD = addColumn("HEAD", DataType.TEXT, 80,
Mod.Nullable);
BUSINESS_UNIT = addColumn("BUSINESS_UNIT", DataType.TEXT, 4,
Mod.NotNull, "ITTK");
UPDATE_TIMESTAMP= addColumn("UPDATE_TIMESTAMP", DataType.DATETIME, 0,
Mod.AutoGenerated);
Any other ideas are also welcome.
BTW: Finding a good name for a class, function or variable is the most
challenging part of programming (my phrase)
Rainer
