I can answer that one, Charlie. I worked several years managing mailing lists and it was always best to segregate different phone numbers (home, business, mobile, fax, etc) into different attributes. In fact, we even split each number into 3 attributes, area code, exchange and last 4-digits (we didn't deal with international) for ease of doing ENGLISH/ACCESS/RECALL (take your 'pick' ;-) ) selections. I think you can see where this is going but if they were all stored as multi-values then which MV would be which phone? Positional data structures will always lead to more complex coding and maintenance. And the very last thing you want to do is add unnecessary complexity to an already complex application.
Which would you prefer, a simple attribute reference or a complex F or A correlative (or I-type) just to extract, and format, the proper value. And what if someone wanted it formated with 'dots' instead of 'dashes'. It really makes managing it much simpler to break things up into their smallest (atomic) elements; very similar the the OOP approach to coding by having methods do the smallest piece of work so that programs can be constructed, like an erector set (or tinker toys). We did similar things with names by breaking them up into 6 attributes: saluation (Mr, Ms, etc), first name, middle initial, lastname, suffix (jr, sr, etc), title (eg President). This structure gave us the power to mix and match things any way we wanted without a lot of effort. People think they are clever by using MVs for everything, but all they are really doing is creating a giant headache for the next person who has to maintain the code and database. Multi-values are best used for 'foreign' references to other files, NOT for storing 'data'. They are also good for audit types of data, eg the operator who handled the record, the date and time it was handled, the work order number, etc. This is a perfect example of using a correlated MV data structure. I'm sure there are other valid uses for MVs but I challenge anyone to show me how making a multi-valued phone field is simpler. Dan On Sat, Jun 26, 2010 at 6:47 PM, Charlie Noah <[email protected]> wrote: > Jim, > > I agree that the OP needs more training, but why do you have a problem with > the phone number being multivalued? > > Charlie Noah > > On 06-26-2010 2:38 PM, Jim Idle wrote: > > You need to read the knowledgebase but need more fundamental training. For a > start though, tell whoever told you that phone number should be a multivalue > field that they need some training ;-) Ask your supplier for some training > options. > > Jim > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected] > <[email protected]>] On Behalf Of tanmoy > Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2010 6:41 AM > To: jBASE > Subject: how to create STUDENT database > > Please tell me the steps to create STUDENT database having > ID,STUDENT_NAME,STUDENT_PHONE_NUMBER(multivalue) as fields > > -- > Please read the posting guidelines at: > http://groups.google.com/group/jBASE/web/Posting%20Guidelines > > IMPORTANT: Type T24: at the start of the subject line for questions specific > to Globus/T24 > > To post, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/jBASE?hl=en > > > > -- > Please read the posting guidelines at: > http://groups.google.com/group/jBASE/web/Posting%20Guidelines > > IMPORTANT: Type T24: at the start of the subject line for questions > specific to Globus/T24 > > To post, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/jBASE?hl=en > -- Please read the posting guidelines at: http://groups.google.com/group/jBASE/web/Posting%20Guidelines IMPORTANT: Type T24: at the start of the subject line for questions specific to Globus/T24 To post, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jBASE?hl=en
