Re: MySQL How to structure database? in Webmasters and Developers http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20432022 en Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:31:43 EDT Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:31:43 EDT Re: MySQL How to structure database? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20450926 Tenar :
said by jayco437 See Profile :

Interesting read. I'd never heard of the phrase before, but certainly understand what they're talking about. I like the taxonomy of the different "smells" there. All very common problems (or, solutions? that create more problems)
Yeah an interesting term, I've heard it used in a few blogs here and there. probably related to "information scent" from the SEO world. :D]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20450926 Thu, 08 May 2008 11:09:51 EDT Re: MySQL How to structure database? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20449782 jayco437 : Interesting read. I'd never heard of the phrase before, but certainly understand what they're talking about. I like the taxonomy of the different "smells" there. All very common problems (or, solutions? that create more problems)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20449782 Thu, 08 May 2008 02:32:06 EDT Re: MySQL How to structure database? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20449108 Jafo232 : I remember when I was in your predicament a few years ago. I am going to tell you something that I wish I knew then:

When creating a unique ID column, such as "userid" make it an auto increment column. It will save you hours of headache.
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Custom PHP/Perl Development. Vbulletin And Wordpress Mods Too!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20449108 Wed, 07 May 2008 23:09:30 EDT Re: MySQL How to structure database? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20448074 Ray :
said by jayco437 See Profile :

said by aSic See Profile :

So should I create a (seemingly infinite amount of) table for each unique class (date), with rows that contain the name/address/etc data? ...and just regularly drop the old tables (classes) as time passes?
No. No. No.

Create a table, CLASSES. Create a table USERS. Use a "lookup" table, CLASSES_USERS to show which users are signed up for which class. This would allow for users to sign up for multiple classes using the same information.

Couple other ways to do it, but creating tables for each class is a no-no.
When your table names contain data, that's a code smell. :)
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ON DELETE CASCADE]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20448074 Wed, 07 May 2008 20:11:10 EDT Re: MySQL How to structure database? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20447334 marigolds : One thing to keep in mind...
if you are going to go for the structure of classes and users (or students), you need a way for the users to be able to recall all of the information they already entered.
i.e. you will want users to create some form of login (remember to encrypt, remember to protect your queries from sql insertion).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20447334 Wed, 07 May 2008 17:39:52 EDT Re: MySQL How to structure database? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20432022 wapu : SQL Server 2005 Express and the Management tool are good as well. Access does some things in it's own way so some of what you can do with it doesn't translate well to other DBs.

I would second the use of ERDs. You should have a solid design "On Paper" or "In Software" before creating the first table. If you have a good design, some software can use that design to create the DB for you.
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We are all athiests about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.
~Richard Dawkins]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20432022 Sun, 04 May 2008 22:07:18 EDT Re: MySQL How to structure database? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20430461 jayco437 : Also, if you have Microsoft Access don't be afraid to play with it. It has all the tools you need to create relationships and print diagrams out. You can run create tables, run queries, enforce integrity, etc. I just wouldn't use it for Production.

You could also look at NeoOffice or OpenOffice. They have a database program in there that might have some of the same functionality as Access (in regards to being able to create relationships by dragging and dropping). Never used it much though....]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20430461 Sun, 04 May 2008 15:13:15 EDT Re: MySQL How to structure database? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20429763 Tenar : May I also suggest looking up something on Entity Relationship models / diagrams.

I found ER diagrams very useful when I was first leaning database structures.

It helped a lot to learn what the relationships were (1 to 1, 1 to many, many to many) and what tables I would need in order to create those relationships.

Here are some examples:
»www.utexas.edu/its/archive/windo···dex.html
»www.cilco.co.uk/briefing-studies···ure.html
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity-rel···ip_model]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20429763 Sun, 04 May 2008 11:41:17 EDT Re: MySQL How to structure database? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20428842 jayco437 : No problem. Its quite a common dilemma I think, until you get a firm grasp on creating relationships in databases. I remember asking myself the same questions years ago.

I actually started with one of the O'Reilly books on Access databases that included some basic info on database modeling.

I've actually looked at this book at B&N, and thought it might be a good beginner book (haven't actually read the whole thing myself though) »www.headfirstlabs.com/books/hfsql/

It's an O'Reilly book also.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20428842 Sun, 04 May 2008 02:19:44 EDT Re: MySQL How to structure database? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20427434 aSic : Just wanted to say thanks again. This spurred a new round of looking at different tutorials, and now I've got the basic layout for signups, and the instructors viewing thing actually working, although very ugly and insecure at this point. I knew there had to be a way to do it. Thanks for the nudge in the right direction. :D
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Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say.
Who is Ron Paul?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20427434 Sat, 03 May 2008 19:19:59 EDT Re: MySQL How to structure database? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20426833 aSic : Thanks jayco437 See Profile! I knew there was something I was overlooking somewhere. I knew the thought of tables for each class seemed crazy, but my head is hurting, and I couldnt clearly think of any other way.

Now I've got some more googling to do on how to properly implement this. :D
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Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say.
Who is Ron Paul?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20426833 Sat, 03 May 2008 16:55:21 EDT Re: MySQL How to structure database? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20426822 jayco437 :
said by aSic See Profile :

So should I create a (seemingly infinite amount of) table for each unique class (date), with rows that contain the name/address/etc data? ...and just regularly drop the old tables (classes) as time passes?
No. No. No.

Create a table, CLASSES. Create a table USERS. Use a "lookup" table, CLASSES_USERS to show which users are signed up for which class. This would allow for users to sign up for multiple classes using the same information.

Couple other ways to do it, but creating tables for each class is a no-no.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20426822 Sat, 03 May 2008 16:52:47 EDT MySQL How to structure database? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20426796 aSic : Alright, stupid question time. I'm a complete DB newbie, and I've dove headfirst into maintaining a site on which I'd like to incorporate some php/mysql stuff. If I could get some handholding here, I would appreciate it. I learn best by working examples. I already know I'm trying to doggie paddle in the deep end... please be gentle. :D

Right at this point, I'm confused on how to structure my db.

I'm attempting to create an activity sign up deal... structured as each unique class (date) contains the names/addresses/phone/etc of all who wish to sign up for it. Basically, a sign up form, where you input name/address/etc, and select from checkboxes/multiple comboboxes the class(es) offered that you'd like to attend. I'm wanting to put this into a mysql database, based on the future thought/ability for the instructor to grab their expected attendees by another form that queries the db from elsewhere... but thats later.

So should I create a (seemingly infinite amount of) table for each unique class (date), with rows that contain the name/address/etc data? ...and just regularly drop the old tables (classes) as time passes?

Or, am I just over thinking all this? Is there an easy way? My head is about to explode from all the code snippets and tutorials I've been reading in the last 4 hours. :o
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Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say.
Who is Ron Paul?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20426796 Sat, 03 May 2008 16:44:44 EDT