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nic
Posting Yak Master
209 Posts |
 Posted - 2004-06-25 : 15:18:07
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| Hi,I have two different tables which track information about houses. In table 1 (Dwellings) I have a column named "RoofType". It holds info about the dwelling's roof. I also have another table named DwellingImprovements which stores info about renovations. In it I have a column also named "RoofType". It stores info about the type of roof improvement.It is somewhat confusing to have the same column name in two different tables. Would it be a better design to name it something like "ImprovRoofType" so you can see that they are different? But this is somewhat redundent though because it is in the Improvement table (should all columns in that table have the prefix Improv?)In general, I try to keep column names different but after awhile there are so many items in so many tables that it is hard to be unique in all cases.I'm curious how others with even larger database handle this dilema.Nic |
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brendalisalowe
Constraint Violating Yak Guru
269 Posts |
Posted - 2004-06-25 : 15:24:12
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| I always keep the columns name the same. It would way too confusing by always changing it. I know I am not a huge help, but that is what I do.Brenda |
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Seventhnight
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker
2878 Posts |
Posted - 2004-06-25 : 15:24:50
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| Generally (for me), if the data is the same (same definition) then I will use the same name, if it is different (diff. definition) then I use a different name. You want to be descriptive but brief. If you get confused then change the column name. You probably don't need to add 'improv' to all of the columns, maybe shorten it to 'i' or 'im' or 'imp' if you want to keep them consistent.Corey |
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nr
SQLTeam MVY
12543 Posts |
Posted - 2004-06-25 : 15:25:59
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| I name foreign keys like this as <tblname>_id - <tblname> will be descriptive of what the table contains.Only has a problem when there are multiple references from the same table.If your two columns are referencing the same table then I would put something like improv in the name - but I guess it's different tables from your question.==========================================Cursors are useful if you don't know sql.DTS can be used in a similar way.Beer is not cold and it isn't fizzy. |
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Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2004-06-25 : 15:50:06
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| I have a (unique if poss.) prefix, the "nickanme" for the table, for all the columns in a table. Then I Suffix this with either a House Style code (e.g. ID = Identity column) or a Descriptive name for the column.For me this makes JOINs and the like much more obvious.I described this further in this thread, if you are interested:http://www.sqlteam.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=36629&SearchTerms=nicknameKristen |
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same column name in two tables