Structure

[Guest]

Hi all,

Need an advice on structure of DB: I have 4 sets of data with relatively
similar fields (but some fields of cause dont apply to other sets). I am
thinking: shall i store them in the same table and make 4 querries or make 4
different tables?

What is the best way?

Thank you.
Lana

 

[Larry Linson]

Need an advice on structure of DB: I have
4 sets of data with relatively similar fields
(but some fields of cause dont apply to
other sets). I am thinking: shall i store them
in the same table and make 4 querries or make 4
different tables?

To give you any useful advice, I suspect we'd need quite a bit more detail.
"Relatively similar fields" isn't very specific. If you could be more
specific about the subject(s) of the data, and the content, it's likely
someone might be able to make some worthwhile suggestions.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP

 

[Allen Browne]

If the fields are similar, chances are that they are instances of the same
kind of entity, so it would be best to put them in the one table with an
extra field to distinguish the entity type. The queries (based on the entity
type) would then separate them as you suggest.

There might be cases where that would not be the best solution, but as a
generic answer to a generic question, that's my suggestion.

As an example, the Northwind database, and you will see they have separate
tables for customers, shippers, and employees. There would be some cases
where you could consider using just one table for these entities.