Thanks for the reply. The source data is stored in a normalized structure. I have to put it together to import into Blackboard, our course management system, as unique course IDs.
The primary data is stored in tables created by Blackboard. Therefore, I can't do anything with it. I only get one field to uniquely identify a course. I control the data that is imported into Bb, therefore, I can ensure the data integrity. The course ID will always be a format similar to "ACCT-110-01.2008FA.1234". I appreciate the suggestions. Mike -----Original Message----- From: Qing Xia [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2008 4:34 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: Re: (ot) SQL Join With LIKE in Join Criteria Hmm.... so long as the data in the 2nd table is consistent, you are safe. If one day, the 2nd table has data like Bad_Data_2008FA_bad, then your solution will break. This solution, I think, at its best, is temporary. A more permenant solution will be to have a REF table where the value of table 1 is stored, another REF table where the value of table 2 is stored. Then, in table 1 and table 2, store the corresponding REF table's PK as FK. Then, have an intersection table, where the PK from REF table 1 and REF table 2 are stored. Repeating data like course numbers should always be broken up into REF tables, or else you get yourself a flat data structure. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;203748912;27390454;j Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:312387 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.4
