Tables to store drop down values 1

[LonnieJohnson]

Is it better to have multiple tables for storing values used in application drop downs and list boxes or putting them in a single table?

This wouldn't be for complicated drop downs, just ones that had a single column drop down.

So say I wanted to put values for Gender, Race, Hospital Names and Department Number all in one table. Even though they are not related wouldn't it be easier to have them all in one table?

Any and all professional advice would be helpful.

Thanks.


ProDev, Builders of Affordable Software Applications
Visit me at ==>

http://www.prodev.us

May God bless you beyond your imagination!!!

 

[gmmastros]

I don't mind hardcoding gender. It's not like that list is gong to change.

in my application, I have a separate table for each drop down, even if there are only a couple choices. My primary reason for this is to accomodate potential future changes. If you ever wanted to add another column to any one of those list, you would need to modify that one table and ultimately waste space.

In reality, it probably doesn't make much difference, especially for small lists.

-George

"The great things about standards is that there are so many to choose from." - Fortune Cookie Wisdom

 

[r937]

do a search for "one true lookup table" (OTLT)

you will find many reasons not to combine multiple dropdown tables into one

r937.com | rudy.ca
Buy my new book Simply SQL from Amazon

 

[LonnieJohnson]

Thanks for that article.

ProDev, Builders of Affordable Software Applications
Visit me at ==>

http://www.prodev.us

May God bless you beyond your imagination!!!