Yes, you can have multiple sets of tables for different projects in one database. I have one portal database that has 35 tables in it ranging from tables for ad categories, to members, to tables for keeping track of votes.
Multiple tables are used in the process of "normalization" which basically means sorting out everything that will be used more than once into its own table. If you do some reading on normalization you will find that a single table or even a small set is the exception rather than the norm. While it would be nice if every column in every table was unique (goal of normalization) in reality you can have the same column name in more than one table. For example if you had a table of printed/published articles and one of web/published articles you could use the label "pubDate" for the publication date of each type of publication. Then when referring to it you would use the tablename.pubDate as your reference in any script. Rudy or one of the others that use databases much more than I do should chime in here and point you (and me as well) to some really good references. Cheryl D. Wise Certified Professional Web Developer MS-MVP-FrontPage www.wiserways.com mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 713.353.0139 Office -----Original Message----- From: Joseph, Smile Poet Cheryl, I have gathered that one database needs many tables to give it flexibility and minimise space, but are you saying that sets of table on different subjects can be stored in one database? Say a membership records table, and, say, a complex record of articles detailing time of writing and various different uses and nature of the articles? (And this idea presumably would underpin accounting software) I assume that logically so long as the headings and reference nos/names are different there would be no confusion. This would mean the dtabase itself is merely a specialised storage area, rather than a linked tables folder. So does the database have a physical Mb limit ( I imagine it must) and if so what does the description database actually mean. Sorry to be so picky, but I have tripped myself up on things before by not getting a clear picture of what I was doing. I have the broad picture of PHP script seeking information, PHP software working out what is required and Sql of whichever type sorting through the tables in a database to give the answers. If everything is uniquely labelled I can see it doesn't matter how many different sets of tables there are; but the physical limits must then come into play, otherwise a per database charge would contemplate one database having Gbs of information. Sorry if these are elementary questions, but the tutorials follow narrow tracks and I haven't sorted out my references properly yet (partly because one needs to know a bit to make sense of what's on offer - a bit chicken and egg) ____ • The WDVL Discussion List from WDVL.COM • ____ To Join wdvltalk, Send An Email To: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Send Your Posts To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To set a personal password send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the words: "set WDVLTALK pw=yourpassword" in the body of the email. To change subscription settings to the wdvltalk digest version: http://wdvl.internet.com/WDVL/Forum/#sub ________________ http://www.wdvl.com _______________________ You are currently subscribed to wdvltalk as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
