I would base my decision on the method of retrieval.  I like the sequential
key method, a lot of systems don't like the @ sign as part of the key.  But
if you do choose the email*date*time I would suggest turning it around and
making it Date*Time*Email so that the data lines up better when listing.

Thanks,
David A. Green
www.dagconsulting.com
(480) 813-1725


-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Israel, John R.
Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2008 5:39 AM
To: '[email protected]'
Subject: [U2] UniData Keys

I am tasked with building an log file for our customers using our web site
(Redback).  I have figured out how to grab what I need, but am not sure the
best way to make the file structure.

I need to track the user (their E-mail address), the web page, the various
request options, the date and time.

Should I:
1) make each record a unique hit on the web (i.e. not multi-valued) with a
sequential number as the key?
2) make each record a unique hit on the web (i.e. not multi-valued) with the
key being the emailAddress*date*time (a big key depending on the
emailAddress)?
3) make the key the emailAddress*date, with each hit that person makes a
multi-value based on the time?

The issue here is that while I am not storing a lot of pieces of data for
each hit, some of the data will be big (emailAddress, web page).

Option 2 could have a big key and I believe UniData would prefer a smaller
one (half the data is the key). To take it to an extreme, since there are no
multi-values, the entire key could be the record, but clearly, this is not
preferred.

Option 3 would take advantage of multi-values, but a user who hits a lot of
pages will have a HUGE record for each day.

I am leaning towards option 1 (many small records, with a sequential number
as the key), but wanted to throw this out for debate.


John Israel
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