If a state secedes then we will have more to worry about than whether or not
to use a code table for states.
To answer your question a code table is good for other reasons. One being
you could then use those values elsewhere in the same application and you
don't have to duplicate data.
-----Original Message-----
From: Pooh Bear [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2001 11:26 AM
To: CF-Talk
Subject: Database design woes
hi all, it's me again, hehehe :). well, i've come across many moments where
i wonder whether i should use an ID, or the actual information. here's an
example. I have two tables, one called STATELIST, and one called Friends.
The statelist table contains the state abbreviations along with an autoid.
The friends table just contain a name field, and (this is where i dunno what
to do) a state_id field.
in the front end, a friend enters his name, and selects the states he lives
in from a droplist (populated from the statlist table). What I am wondering
is, should i use the state's id, instead of actual text? when do i use it,
and when dont i use it? my initial reason of using an id was that it would
search faster since it is an integer and not regular text. but i do come
across times like these and dont know whether to use text or id. i mean what
if one state secedes?? i will have to delete the state from the table, and
the state ids that my friend have would have no state to reference to. But,
if i use text instead, the information is still there.
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