-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On 11/27/06 13:37, Scott Ribe wrote: >> In the real world, >> data changes, even supposedly unchangeable data. > > And that's the crux of it. All of the "that design is wrong" arguments in > the world won't stop data that has been constant & unique for decades from > changing when some manager, rightly or wrongly, sees a "business need" for > it. User-provided data can never, ever be counted on to forever and always > have the attributes (uniqueness, stability, whatever) described by the > users, no matter how many times you are reassured on the subject. The data > will very often behave exactly as described, but to base a database design > on that assumption is to create a brittle design--as you described. If I base a master sales table on account_number and date/time, then every CPA in the country will descend on me with calculators sharpened if I decide to update the SALE_DATE column. - -- Ron Johnson, Jr. Jefferson LA USA Is "common sense" really valid? For example, it is "common sense" to white-power racists that whites are superior to blacks, and that those with brown skins are mud people. However, that "common sense" is obviously wrong. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.5 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFFa0BiS9HxQb37XmcRAmQ2AJ9hYFVgXmW9ls5uvhrQkvxqvV7KWwCgoaOi fa9fMXbjOK4ZDzsd3JH67xs= =j0Rb -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
