We had a similar issue with the City field in a database. We maintain a
City table, and each user record only contains the primary key (an integer
id) to the corresponding record in the City table. For the user interface
we created a combo-type box, so that a user could either select their City
from the drop-down, or enter a new City in a text box. If they entered a
new City in the text box, a record is added to the City table.
The administrator then has a module in which they can approve or disapprove
new cities added. Once they approve the city, it will appear in add
drop-down boxes. If they don't want to add the city, then they'll change
the pointer in the user table to point to the correct city, and they delete
the new city from the City table.
It's a bit of work, but it works well for the client.
Hope that helps,
Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: Erika L. Walker [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: May 10, 2001 11:52 AM
To: CF-Talk
Subject: OT: Data Integrity - Q of the Day
Here's a question that's been bothersome for some time.
We have an interface where participants register for meeting. There is a
form they fill out with basic information, including the pharmaceutical
company they are associated with.
We use drop downs where we can to keep data as constant as possible, but we
cannot use dropdowns for the company they are with as there are far too many
to compile and list.
And therein lies our problem. Users from one company can have a half dozen
different ways to spell their company name.
There is an admin search page where an administrator can search for
registered users by several different criteria, one of which is the user's
company name. I dynamically build a drop down for this field on the search
page by pulling all distinct company names from the db. Of course, there are
several different variations of the company name in the dropdown, which
makes it very cumbersome.
Has anyone had to deal with this? If so, how did you deal with it? And/or
does someone have an idea on how to go about dealing with it?
Erika
(with a *K*)
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