use Perl

• re-Normalize (Score:1)

  by n1vux (1492)

  I think you've overnormalized. You don't need task_start, task_finish, task_cancel junction tables. You've just traded trying to enforce UserID NOT NULL IF Status NOT NULL for enforcing that a task appears at most once in the UNION of the three task_{start,finish,cancel} tables, which will be even more awkward to code in your data dictionary (1=COUNT(*) FROM UNION...)

  You need just one task_status table that has NOT NULL FKs to TaskID and UserID, plus a State enumerated type and an autoinsert date timesta

  --
  Bill
  # I had a sig when sigs were cool
  use Sig;
  • Re:re-Normalize (Score:2)

    by Ovid (2709)

    Ah, thanks. You're correct that my normalization wasn't correct. I can now see the value of what you propose and that does make the task simpler and more maintainable. As a caveat, though, some of what you suggest implies using a real database, not a toy like MySQL (which is what we're using).

    This gives me another good rule of thumb to keep in mind. Naturally, when I see things like field_1, field_2, field_3 and so on, it's obvious that I need another table as what I'm looking at is essentially an arr
    • Re:re-Normalize (Score:1)

      by chromatic (983) on 2006.07.03 12:30 (#48518) Homepage Journal

      You have to use a real programming language too, not a toy like Perl.

      (Oh, I meant Perl version 2. What? There's a newer version? I bet it's a toy just like Perl 2.)

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