Simple Design Question!!!

[KarveR]

probably at least a good idea to separate the area code from the main number as not everyone will need the area code (?).

As for prefixes... do you mean country codes or am I just in a different country to you?
______________________________________________________________________
There's no present like the time, they say. - Henry's Cat.

 

[sleipnir214]

Karverp:

Technically speaking, your phone number is only 4 digits long.

A U.S. (and Canada, etc., in North America) 10-digit "phone number" actually consists of an area code, a branch exchange number, and a phone number. I think he's talking about storing each separately.


gshomedesign:
I recommend that you store phone numbers in a single field in a standard format, such as 111-111-1111.

If you are planning on performing a lot of lookups on a lot of data using area codes, you might store it separately -- you will get better performance from MySQL by not having to do a substring search. You'll only see that benefit if your database is large and your queries extensive.

But I wouldn't go to the extreme of storing the branch and number separately. Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!

 

[KarveR]

Technically speaking my phone number is 6 didgits long and only comes with an area code as an extra ... guess where I live ______________________________________________________________________
There's no present like the time, they say. - Henry's Cat.

 

[sleipnir214]

KarveR:

you live in the U.K.?

If I remember correctly, phone numbers in Germany are a standard 11 digits, but where your area code ends and your local number begins are based on the size of your local dialing area. In Frankfurt, local calls are 7 digits, but the area code for Frankfurt is only 4 digits.

In Mainz (smaller, but a good-sized city), local numbers are 6 digts, but the area code is 5 digts long.

And I guess if you lived in a small-enough village, your local number could be 3 digits, but your area code 8. Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!