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MikeB
Constraint Violating Yak Guru
387 Posts |
 Posted - 2003-03-12 : 10:02:19
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| I was just talking with my customer about his requirements for a budgeting report he would like. He indicated that his team only needs 3 quotes MAX on any given project. He says that the report should only show 3 quotes and it should look similar to this:Project | Activity | Budget | Quote1 | Quote2 | Quote3 | Awarded To | VarianceNow to me, this a many to one relationship between the project and the quotes. This should require 2 tables if the number of quotes is variant. Table OneReference | Project | Activity | Budget | Awarded ToTable 2Reference | TableOne.Reference | QuoteBut, because he claims there will under any circumstance be no more then 5 quotes and the report will still only require the "Low" three, would it be in bad design taste to combine the 2 tables into one:TableReference | Project | Activity | Budget | Quote1 | Quote2 | .... Quote 10 | Awarded ToLet's say I put 10 Quote fields in there "just in case" and when the report is printed, only select the bottom 3?Advice?Mike B |
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robvolk
Most Valuable Yak
15732 Posts |
Posted - 2003-03-12 : 10:20:16
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| No, you should go with the two table design. That way you can add as many quotes as you want without needing to change the design later. No point in adding columns to a table when more than half of them will never be filled. |
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MikeB
Constraint Violating Yak Guru
387 Posts |
Posted - 2003-03-12 : 10:36:59
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| Yeah, I guess I knew that. A 'good rule of thumb' is a 'good rule of thumb' no matter how many excuses I have. :) heheMike B |
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Poor Design?