> And so does SQL Server allow multiple definitions > for the same column name.
Actually, the standard is to allow different definitions for the same column. Most database implement the concept of DOMAIN, which allows you to create named datatypes which can then be used in column definitions -- so you could declare a FIRSTNAME domain to be TEXT(20) and then assign this domain to various columns in the database. I like R:Base's method of creating implicit domains based on column name, although occasionally I wish I could extend the concept to force columns with different names to have the same definition. -- Larry
