Bill: (Continued)
Re-reading your post. Since "Walking Dead" reruns aren't on right now, I thought I'd expand a bit on my reply. Your examples are ALL one-to-many, or many-to-many relationships. One PERSON to many ADDRESS One ADDRESS to many PERSON One PERSON to many PHONE One PHONE to many PERSON etc. So my simplified table structures look something like this: PERSON <-->> PERSON2ADDRESS <<--> ADDRESS PERSON <-->> PERSON2PHONE <<--> PHONE PERSON2ADDRESS has columns indicating what this address means to this person, and why I would care (as well as the disable_date). PERSON2PHONE has similar columns. If you get really burly you can link phones to addresses so that you know where POTS and FAX lines ring. I'd be careful about tracking that sugar daddy thing, though. No tellin' how 'Matlock' things might get. Hope that helps. Cheers! Bruce Chitiea SafeSectors, Inc. > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [RBASE-L] - Too relational? > From: William Stacy <[email protected]> > Date: Tue, February 21, 2012 5:04 pm > To: [email protected] (RBASE-L Mailing List) > > > In my efforts to "normalize" my database, I'm even finding the need to > split off postal addresses, telephone numbers, etc into separate tables. > Presently all addresses and phones etc reside in a person table and/or in a > family table. I haven't done this yet, but am thinking about it. In the > end, my "family" table may end up only having about 3 or 4 columns, which > identify the person's mom and dad for blood relative connections, and maybe > a responsible person (bill-to and family addressee) connections. Can't > think of much else that is needed there. > > My reason is this: many people have alternate addresses, some more than 2 > such as office addresses, PO Boxes, military addresses, vacation homes, > bill-to addresses, girl-friend or sugar-daddy addresses and so on. Same > thing is true of phone numbers. Really, these are almost one-to-many > items. In the reverse fashion from what you might think. Really, a single > street address can have many people associated with it, and the address > itself really doesn't change, only the residents do. Same thing is true of > phone numbers. My cell num is unique, but after I give it up, someone else > will eventually get it. > > Anyone construct tables thusly? > > -- > William Stacy, O.D. > > Please visit my website by clicking on : > > http://www.folsomeye.net
