Jim, Habit. I look at so many objects I don't know what I would do if they weren't prefixed with a type.
I still didn't answer your question on "why should you use them", but this is why I do. Regards, A$ ----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Friday, August 1, 2003 10:39 am Subject: RE: RE: standardized naming system ? > Wasn't my question. > > Why do you need to label a table as a table? There is some merit > in using > type prefixes in VB because of its loose typing, but it makes no > sense in a > database context where the types of objects are quite distinct. > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Adam Fortuno KOVICK [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: 01 August 2003 15:24 > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: Re: RE: standardized naming system ? > > > > > > Jim, > > > > Great question! > > > > I use the ol'Reddick VBA naming conventions. > > > > tbl - table > > idx - index > > fld - field > > > > You can search them in google, but I'd like to know if MySQL has its > > own established conventions too. > > > > Regards, > > A$ > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: Jim Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Date: Friday, August 1, 2003 10:03 am > > Subject: RE: standardized naming system ? > > > > > > > > > > Hello list, > > > > > > > > is there a common naming system for db objects ? > > > > > > Thousands. > > > > > > > Like: > > > > > > > > 1) Tables: mytable, tblmytable, tbl_mytable > > > > > > > > 2) Indices: idx_anindex > > > > > > > > 3) Columns: int_somenumber, date_lastupdate > > > > > > > > 4) id for the numerical primary key e.g. table customers.id > > > > and then for referencing foreign keys > > > > table addresses : addresses.customer_id or > > > > addresses.customer_fk > > > > > > > > OK, I know I could name them the way I want but perhaps > there is > > > some> kind of common sense in this regard ? > > > > > > Common sense will do, but here is my take on it. > > > > > > There are three main objectives - portability, maintainability and > > > consistency. > > > > > > General. > > > Use long names. Don't abbreviate unnecessarily, but don't go to > > > far that > > > you have > > > to rename all your tables if you move to a different DBMS. A > > max > > > of 30 > > > chars should fit most DBMSs. > > > > > > Use lower case names, with words separated by underscores '_'. > > > Some DBMSs > > > are case > > > sensitive, others aren't and some convert all names to upper > > case > > > ( this is > > > an ANSI > > > standard feature, I believe). If you use camel case ( > > > studentClassScores),this could become > > > STUDENTCLASSSCORES which isn't very readable, whereas > > > STUDENT_CLASS_SCORESis much better. > > > > > > Don't use reserved words. Most DBMSs allow you to use reserved > > > words with > > > various degrees of effort, but why bother. Also try to avoid > > > simple names > > > which > > > might be a reserved word in another DBMS. > > > > > > Tables. > > > Give tables a clear simple name which represents the content. > > If > > > it holds > > > student records, call > > > it "students"; course details, "courses" etc. > > > Also assign each table a unique 2-4 letter prefix for use in > > > naming objects > > > which belong to that table. > > > > > > Columns > > > Again say what it is. I use the prefix referred to above in all > > > columnnames, but some people think that > > > is a waste of name space. > > > e.g std_id, std_surname, std_forename, student_birthdate, > > crs_name, > > > crs_tutor_id, etc > > > > > > Constraints > > > Use the prefix > > > Primary Key std_pk > > > Foreign Keys std_fk_col ( i.e. > > <source_prefix>_FK_<target_prefix> > > > Unique Keys std_uk_nn where nn is a sequence number. Some > > > people like > > > std_uk_<column_name>, but > > > if you have a composite > > > key, that doesn't work. > > > > > > Indexes > > > Where an index is used to enforce (or instead of) a unique or > > > primary key > > > constraint, same name as the constraint. > > > Primary Key index std_pk > > > Unique Index std_uk_nn > > > Non-unique index std_nu_nn > > > > > > If indexes share the same namespace as constraints, stick an i_ > > > on the > > > front of the index name. > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > MySQL General Mailing List > > > For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql > > > To unsubscribe: > > > http://lists.mysql.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > > -- > MySQL General Mailing List > For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql > To unsubscribe: > http://lists.mysql.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] >
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