How do you decide whether to use a string column or an id column to differentiate between different types of records?
Suppose you have a relationships table that maps users to forums. The possible relationships can be: subscriber, moderator, owner. When does it make sense to move those relationship types to their own table and reference them through a relationship_type_id column? What's the criteria? Or is it better to use a string column to differentiate them? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rubyonrails-talk/-/t2scvYNus4UJ. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.
