Bj, That's a gem; I had not thought of data protection, even though I have had to deal with it in the past. I'll check. I had thought of organising a birthday greetings activity, though I suspect I'm way too green to sort it out!
I pride myself that I was half way to the relationship issues, and thank you for the further normalisation points. Wish you luck with the course; I can only say I have needed the services of people able to deal with my password failures so, to adapt the two Ronnies (before they were) with Cleese: I'm elementary class so I look up to him... Joseph Joseph Harris www.smilepoetryweekly.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bj" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2005 10:39 PM Subject: Re: [wdvltalk] Database design first steps > If you store and keep any personal information such as you describe, beyond > a simple list of email addresses with no associated personal information, > you will need to stay on the right side of the Data Protection Act. You > will need to register with them at a cost of £35 a year and comply with > certain provisions of the Act, this applies even if you have specifically > asked people's permission to keep the information. A useful fact sheet is > at > http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/cms/DocumentUploads/Data%20Protection%20Act%20Fact%20V2.pdf > > As far as database design goes - remember the important thing is to > eliminate duplication. There is not a one-to-one relationship between a > person and their email address, as there can be more than one email for a > given person and sometimes, more than one person using a given email. So > this is a many-to-many relationship and for a fully normalised database you > need an emails table, a people table and a lookup table to store the > relationships > > eg > Table 1: email (email key, email address) > Table 2: email relationships (email key, user id) > Table 3: Users (Userid, user name, user dob...) > > What you really need is 2 years of an ONC or HNC evening class where you can > learn the true wonders of 4th normal form and talk about schemas and > paradigms as though they mean something > > I am having the joys of education brought home to me at the moment by a 5 > day MCSE course on ' Planning, Implementing and Maintaining Server 2003 > Active Directory' which I have been sent on so I know how to change a user's > password for them when they forget it. Tomorrow we start on Group Policies. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Joseph Harris" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2005 4:53 PM > Subject: [wdvltalk] Database design first steps > > > >I have, at long last, returned to designing a new site; in the time > > interval my knowledge has become shaky to say the least :-o > > > > I am doing my best to follow the advice of Julie C Meloni in a SAMS book. > > The plan is to collect email addresses by a voluntary form, via PayPal > > notification, through a Guest Book, review writing (the site is for a > > book) > > and possibly through a shopping cart (though this is a one product site). > > I hope to get the visitor/purchaser's country and whether they have > > bought, > > visited, reviewed and/or filled in the guest book. > > > > Have you an opinion on whether all the addresses should be in one table; > > and are there any special relationship tricks I ought to be aware of for > > that. > > > > TIA > > > > Joseph > > > > Joseph Harris > > www.smilepoetryweekly.com ____ The WDVL Discussion List from WDVL.COM ____ To Join wdvltalk, Send An Email To: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] or use the web interface http://e-newsletters.internet.com/discussionlists.html/ Send Your Posts To: [email protected] To change subscription settings, add a password or view the web interface: http://intm-dl.sparklist.com/read/?forum=wdvltalk ________________ http://www.wdvl.com _______________________ You are currently subscribed to wdvltalk as: unknown lmsubst tag argument: '' To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe via postal mail, please contact us at: Jupitermedia Corp. Attn: Discussion List Management 475 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10016 Please include the email address which you have been contacted with.
