Link a master table to 16 tables, good or bad???

[PRAV]

hi, i'm having a big problem. Before i have a Project table that is
linked to the Milestones table. The relationship was one to many. As
there is a limitation on the number of columns in one table i can't add

columns in the Milestones table which i need to.
Therefore i thought of creating 16 tables for 16 milestones.How ever, i

getting an error "This recordset is not updatable" when i trying to
update the data on my MS Access 97 form. Is this a good option to 1
table link to 16 tables .Another question, when creating a new project
how can i make my 16 milestones reference to that project i just
created

 

[Duane Hookom]

I think you have a normalization issue. My guess is that you have many date
fields. Consider reviewing your structure against info at
http://www.datamodel.org/NormalizationRules.html.

 

[PRAV]

I have created 4 new tables (4 milestones in one table) from the
milestones tables instead of 16 tables.I have removed all the
milestones columns but left with the milestones id and the foreign key
for Project table. What do u think will be best to link the 4 tables
to, the Project or Milestones.

 

[tina]

if you can have four milestones in one table, why not all sixteen in one
table? suggest you read further on data normalization. there are numerous
resources available at
http://home.bendbroadband.com/conradsystems/accessjunkie/resources.html#DatabaseDesign101

hth

 

[PRAV]

because i have more fields(cloumns) to add in the milestone table. At
the moment its 16 milestones by 9 columns) + other foreign keys , MS
Access 97 can't handle more than that

 

[tina]

i'm having trouble believing that your tables are normalized, whether you're
using 16 or 4. i strongly recommend that you go to the website i posted
previously, and invest some serious study time in relational design
principles - before you go a single step further in your database
development project.

hth

 

[Rick Brandt]

because i have more fields(cloumns) to add in the milestone table. At
the moment its 16 milestones by 9 columns) + other foreign keys , MS
Access 97 can't handle more than that
tina wrote:

Access 97 (as all other versions) can have as many as 255 columns. Although
having more than 30 or so usually indicates a design problem.

 

[Guest]

If you have MS Project, you can save a project as a database. You can then
open this and look at the structure. This will give you a rough idea how to
setup a database to handle Project Management. There is an html file in a
system folder that describes all the fields in the Project Database.

Dave