> In your particular example, it is a bad practice to have similar > column names across tables, especially any that have any chance > of being joined.
Funny, that's exactly what you need to do when using the NATURAL JOIN[1] SQL statement :) [2] I agree, and I never do that, but sometimes you get burned by people not playing by the rules... our company (not my) practice is to use a two-letter-prefix system. So for the Medical Records system, we might have a table called mr_patients, with a primary id called mrpt_id. I'm not sure I like that, but that's the standard. So when an FK reference is made, it's mr_visits.mrvs_mrpt_id, which really doesn't roll off the tongue, but it's safe. > I prefer SELECT *, because I think the risks in that scenario > is low, and made lower by proper application of other > practices. Feel free to code however you want ;) We try to adhere to the recommendations of Dabs on the major SQL sites. Marc [1] http://manuals.sybase.com/onlinebooks/group-aw/awg0800e/dbugen8/@Generic__Bo okTextView/20273 [2] Not that I recommend that syntax, in-fact it's perilous for exactly the reason we've discussed =================================== This list is hosted by DevelopMentorŪ http://www.develop.com Some .NET courses you may be interested in: NEW! Guerrilla ASP.NET, 17 May 2004, in Los Angeles http://www.develop.com/courses/gaspdotnetls View archives and manage your subscription(s) at http://discuss.develop.com
