database setup

[Guest]

I am setting up a database for a large mailing. Would it be best to have all
the excel files i have recieved from different individuals to be in different
tables or all in one table?

Thanks =)

 

[Immanuel Sibero]

Orozco,

If the excel files contain the same "type" of information then they all
should be in the same table.

HTH,
Immanuel Sibero

 

[Guest]

For the majority they have the same information such as name address city
state zip email. But some have school district, provider id, clinic id that
is different.

also is it better to have first name last name seperate fields or together.

thanks so much for your help.

 

[Immanuel Sibero]

For the majority they have the same information such as name address city
state zip email. But some have school district, provider id, clinic id that
is different.

This is a group of people/contacts, therefore they should all be in one
table. You should NOT have one table for people with school district, and
another table for people with clinic ID. To expand on that concept, you
wouldnt put schools, or clinics in that people table. Schools should be in
one table and clinics should be in yet another table. So, basically a table
is a collection of all things that are similar (i.e. all people, all
schools, all clinics, etc. etc.)

also is it better to have first name last name seperate fields or

together.

Better to have separate fields. In database processing, it's easier to
combine two or more fields together than it is to break apart one field.

HTH,
Immanuel Sibero

 

[Joseph Meehan]

The specifics make the difference, but most of the time you would want
them all in the same table.

It is also better to have first name last name, MI, city, state, zip
etc. each in it's own filed. For example you may find that the post office
will give you a discount if you sort by zip code. That is easy to do if you
have the zip in it's own field. Maybe you know Joe Smith in Ohio is in
there somewhere and you want to find him. Listing just the Smiths in Ohio
whose first name starts with J. that way you will find Joe Joseph, J, Jo
etc.

 

[James Hahn]

I hope that I am reading your question wrongly when I detect that you are
intending to put the EXCEL files into a database. It is, of course, the
information contained in the EXCEL files that will go into the database, and
you will almost certainly use more than one table. However, the tables will
be organised according to the data they contain, not the source of that
data.