Re: Db design question (relational vs. flat?)
This WebDNA talk-list message is from 1998
It keeps the original formatting.
numero = 17070
interpreted = N
texte = >What if I stuff all the category names into the category field in my >catalog.txt instead of creating another db like category.db? Can you >help me understand pros and cons of one vs. the other?The downside of that is you can't easily create a popup or list or any other construct that would require breaking out every word as an individual item (that's why our admin pages can't display a list of Groups). The upside is that it's faster for searching, and in many ways easier to comprehend (and edit) because the words are just sitting there in a single field.There's nothing stopping you from doing both - create a category database whose purpose is to ease popup/list creation, but also have lists of words in a big field. The only problem would be someday getting the two out of synch, but I don't really know what your application is, so I don't know if that's a huge problem.Grant Hulbert, V.P. Engineering | ==== eCommerce for the Rest of Us ==== Pacific Coast Software | WebCatalog, WebMerchant, 11770 Bernardo Plaza Court | SiteEdit Pro, PhotoMaster, San Diego, CA 92128 | Typhoon 619/675-1106 Fax: 619/675-0372 | http://www.smithmicro.com/
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>What if I stuff all the category names into the category field in my >catalog.txt instead of creating another db like category.db? Can you >help me understand pros and cons of one vs. the other?The downside of that is you can't easily create a popup or list or any other construct that would require breaking out every word as an individual item (that's why our admin pages can't display a list of Groups). The upside is that it's faster for searching, and in many ways easier to comprehend (and edit) because the words are just sitting there in a single field.There's nothing stopping you from doing both - create a category database whose purpose is to ease popup/list creation, but also have lists of words in a big field. The only problem would be someday getting the two out of synch, but I don't really know what your application is, so I don't know if that's a huge problem.Grant Hulbert, V.P. Engineering | ==== eCommerce for the Rest of Us ==== Pacific Coast Software | WebCatalog, WebMerchant, 11770 Bernardo Plaza Court | SiteEdit Pro, PhotoMaster, San Diego, CA 92128 | Typhoon 619/675-1106 Fax: 619/675-0372 | http://www.smithmicro.com/
Grant Hulbert
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