I can tell you what I do... I have a utility table which has groups that populate all my drop downs. I store the utility_id as a foreign key and then join to get the actual display value. The utility table is small and utility_id is the primary key so those joins are pretty fast.
The good thing is I can rename options, add options, or inactivate options and the entire site updates instantly without any new CF code. ~Brad -----Original Message----- From: Joel Watson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 11:08 AM To: CF-Talk Subject: Quick Question About Dbase Architecture I have a profile form that has about 7 drop-down menus (marital status, education level, etc.), all required fields. How do most handle this? Do you create a separate table for each collection and then have foreign keys on the "profile" table, or do you simply pass in literal values to the database from the select fields? Obviously, with the latter, any changes to the structure of the collections would be difficult and bulky. But with the former, will there be a significant database toll for all of the joins in the sql statement that will be necessary to display literal values of the foreign keys? Is there a better third (or forth) option besides these? Thanks! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Create robust enterprise, web RIAs. Upgrade to ColdFusion 8 and integrate with Adobe Flex http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/flex2/?sdid=RVJP Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:288724 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.4
