Having a units column is always a great idea since it also helps for doing conversions at a later date, if the need ever arises as well as helping with searches such as to see all shock absorbers between 12 and 16 inches long. With that said though it is not always a feasible option. Since in some cases, sounds like maybe not this, you are typing in a description and within that the units might be presented. On Sun, Oct 12, 2008 at 11:06 AM, Adrian Lynch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
> Also, don't store 12", or 12" or 12in in the DB, store 12 and along > side it, in another column, an identifier for inches. > > It'll make life easier when you need to query the info. > > Adrian > Building a database of errors at http://cferror.org/ > > -----Original Message----- > From: s. isaac dealey > Sent: 12 October 2008 04:04 > To: cf-talk > Subject: Re: How to handle quote symbols > > > > This is something i havent had to deal with before - might seem > > strange to you Americans, but I have to figure out how to handle a > > client who wants teh double quote symbol to represent inches. He's > > a car parts retailer, and sells shock absorbers that are known to his > > market by inches not centimetres. He doesnt want to represent a 12 > > inch shock as <quote> 12in throw</quote> he wants to use the double > > quote symbol. > > Sounds pretty normal on my end. > > > However the quote symbol is seen by the form as teh end of the field > > when he wants to update his database on line, so the form has to be > > given 12" not 12". I either have to make sure there are no > > double quote symbols in teh database, or put a replace() somewhere > > before the variable goes to the form html. > > Right, you want > <input name="yadda" value="#htmleditformat(thevalue)#" /> > > > Here's my question. do you store 12" in the database, or 12" > > Does it matter? > > I would recommend not storing anyting with entities like " in the > database, because there's no guarantee the data will always be used for > HTML. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Maybe it'll go out in an email. > Maybe it'll go into a PDF. Maybe it'll go into an Excel spreadsheet. > Maybe it'll get sent to someone via a webservice. It's usually > impossible to know in advance really what formats it might potentially > be used in, so generally speaking I recommend storing the value with no > formatting and then applying the formatting when outputing or sending to > wherever you want it. > > hth, > ike > > -- > s. isaac dealey ^ new epoch > isn't it time for a change? > ph: 781.769.0723 > > http://onTap.riaforge.org/blog > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:313785 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4
