Member Avatar for bayangan

Background:
I have many tables for ex:

Nominations:
---------------
Type (there are 3 types)

WorkOrders:
----------------
Type (there are 7 types)

I have many typical tables like these. In designing database, I need to know which approach is wiser ie to make a control table for each, or to make a lookup table?

For ex:

NominationTypes:
---------------------
ID Name
-- --------
1 NominationType1
2 NominationType2
3 NominationType3

or using a lookup table

Lookups:
------------
Group Code Value
------- ------- --------
NominationTypes NT1 NominationType1
NominationTypes NT2 NominationType2
NominationTypes NT3 NominationType3
WorkOrderTypes WO1 WorkOrderType1
.
.
.
WorkOrderTypes WO7 WorkOrderType7

........

My consideration on not using a lookup value within the database is this.. User may need to customize (add or delete types) it in the future.

How usually people making their country database? Are they using a seperate table to store data or using a lookup table?

---------------

In my case, I may access these types oftenly, so in query wise, which option is best for me?

thanks for replying

  • 2 Contributors
  • 1 Reply
  • 110 Views
  • 15 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by timothybard
Member Avatar for timothybard

I would recommend the "lookup table" approach. This will save you from creating many tables that serve the same purpose and it will make queries easier to build since you don't have to remember which table stores which types.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.