You'd probably want to make sure the tables are at least in 3rd normal form.
1st: each column contains only ONE attribute. The means you can't have a list of people for "members" or the such. And each row must have a primary key. No two rows can be identical in a table. 2nd: no column is partially dependent on the primary key. It must only describe the primary key. Examples are hard to go into, it's easier to see when you do it for 3rd normal form. 3rd: There must be no transitive keys. No keys must be dependent on a key other than the primary key. Example, if you have agency and agency owner in your frequency table, this breaks third normal form. agency owner is dependent on agency and not the frequency. If you change the data in a transitive key, you have to change it multiple places, if the agency ever gets a new ceo (or multiple ceos as some weird companies have) you're screwed ;) Ack, at 12/24/01, John Mayson said: >I think I'm getting the hang of SQL now. Thanks to all who have >answered my questions. >I do have one other. > >I am an amateur radio operator and radio hobbyist. I have built a >database for radio >frequency information. Some of the fields in my frequency table >include frequency, >callsign, agency, etc. I have created other tables with values for >things such as agency. >Rather than enter "Austin Fire Department" over and over I just have >an integer and I >can join the tables. Pretty common SQL stuff. > >How far should I go with this? Right now when I look at my >frequency table, it's mostly a >list of numbers. I suppose this is more efficient, but difficult >(for me) to work with. I'm sure >once I have a GUI working, it'll be transparent. > >My question is at what point should I stop using these lookup tables? -- Sincerely, Rosyna Keller Technical Support/Holy Knight/Always needs a hug Unsanity: Unsane Tools for Insane People --------------------------------------------------------------------- Before posting, please check: http://www.mysql.com/manual.php (the manual) http://lists.mysql.com/ (the list archive) To request this thread, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Trouble unsubscribing? Try: http://lists.mysql.com/php/unsubscribe.php
