Steve, I guess this list will split pretty evenly into two camps: one that says don't use note columns unless you have to and the other one that has no problems with them.
I'm in the second camp - but you have be aware of the possibility of problems. In the past, R:Base used to have more problems with notes because it had to always replace the row whenever it was edited. This meant (internally) deleting the current row and adding a new row to replace it. Simply because there were two operations there was twice the risk of error if something went wrong. More recently, the note fields can be "padded" which means some extra space (and you can define how much) is stored with the original entry so that amendments can be made to the original row until the space is all used up. I presume that the padding is added back when the limit is breached or when a RELOAD is performed. (Anybody like to clarify this?) I believe many users used to create tables that contained only an idnum and the note column and then link this to their main table. I do this when there is only one note column in use. You want 8 note columns which may be asking for trouble but - probably - will work just fine in a single table. However, why take a risk when it's easy enough to create separate tables? If I were to need this sort of thing I would create a controlling table with the idnum, and any other data, then 8 other tables with an idnum and a note column in each. You can easily create a view to see the data as you would expect it and you will keep your database size to a minimum. Your note columns will be entirely flexible for length which text columns will not be because you have to define the maximum length and each row will reserve that length in the database files. If something goes wrong the chances are that only one table is affected before you notice it and you will have back-ups - won't you!! If you lose the combined table you've got a much bigger job to repair or replace. The only real disadvantage is in creating your forms because you need to add all the tables to the forms - it's just extra work and it'll work ok. You'll probably need at least two forms as the maximum number of tables is 5 - but v7 may be different. I'd use one form as the driving form and pop-up others with EEPs for the notes. You can create reports from the view. In the end, though, you pays your money and takes your choice!! Regards, Alastair. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fogelson, Steve" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "RBASE-L Mailing List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 9:49 PM Subject: [RBASE-L] - Table Design > I am new to this list. > > If I have 8 text fields that I want a table to have, would it be better to > use 8 Note fields vs. 8 Text fields of 80 characters? > > Would the Note fields use less disk space that the allocated Text fields of > 80 characters? > > I know this would allow me to use more than 80 characters in some of the > fields, so that would be a benefit. > > Are there any draw backs to a Note field? > > Also, will I lose any data in a Text field that I convert to a Note Field? > > Thanks > > Steve Fogelson > Internet Commerce Solutions >
