Hi Jeff, great article.

I have one quibble: terminology; even an old relic like me knows that "best bower" and "small bower" have been superseded by "starboard bower" and "port bower"...

L' Eomot Inversé (8/23/2013)

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Hugo Kornelis (8/23/2013)

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First: I am very glad to see a question about normalization. There should be more of those. Much more. So thank you, Tom!

And yet, my...

Hugo Kornelis (8/23/2013)

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First: I am very glad to see a question about normalization. There should be more of those. Much more. So thank you, Tom!

And yet, my pedantic me just...

Craig-315134 (8/23/2013)

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The solution to the problem of misusing a specialised tool is not avoidance. The solution is in education and training. Developers, as many of us have witnessed, often 'MacGyver'...

RonKyle (8/23/2013)

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It's not my intention to write a book to explain every detail and nuance. The forum is for an exchange of general ideas. Almost anything anyone says...

RonKyle (8/22/2013)

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There are business entity relationships, which are modelled by the normal forms, and there are business rules, which have no impact on database design beyond maybe the addition of...

Hugo Kornelis (8/23/2013)

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Now you're doing the same as you did in the start - simplyfying "it isn't known to the database" to "it isn't known". You are far from alone...

Well, I have to do something to keep up my reputation as a normalisation pedant.

I see that the final reference in the explanation is screwed up, the closing [/url] at the end is missing. Sorry about that. I guess it doesn't stop...

Craig-315134 (8/22/2013)

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A trigger is just a specialised tool - a specific means to a specific end - and as the old saying goes, we should 'use the right tool for...

lacquer

Hugo Kornelis (8/22/2013)

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So where does all the confusion with "unknown" come from? (To my surprise, I see that even Tom, a man I normally agree with on most points, is...

brdudley (8/22/2013)

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Perhaps its just a figure of speech, but the fixation on firing people for this seems misplaced.

Surely, coding to prevent SQL Injection is a learned skill, like many others.

If...

Dave62 (8/22/2013)

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I've been building databases since I started working with PFS File in the 1980's. :w00t:

It seems like there is a literal meaning for NULL, which is "unknown", and a...

Oh how tempted I feel. Really tempted tempted.

:-):-D:-P;-):w00t::cool::hehe::angry::crazy::doze::laugh::rolleyes::satisfied::blink::ermm::crying::pinch::kiss::Wow::Whistling::unsure::(:alien::smooooth::-):-D:-P;-):w00t::cool::hehe::angry::crazy::doze::laugh::rolleyes::satisfied::blink::ermm::crying::pinch::kiss::Wow::Whistling::unsure::(:alien::smooooth::crazy::crazy::crazy:

:-):-D:-P;-):w00t::cool::hehe::angry::crazy::doze::laugh::rolleyes::satisfied::blink::ermm::crying::pinch::kiss::Wow::Whistling::unsure::(:alien::smooooth::-):-D:-P;-):w00t::cool::hehe::angry::crazy::doze::laugh::rolleyes::satisfied::blink::ermm::crying::pinch::kiss::Wow::Whistling::unsure::(:alien::smooooth::crazy::crazy::crazy:

:-):-D:-P;-):w00t::cool::hehe::angry::crazy::doze::laugh::rolleyes::satisfied::blink::ermm::crying::pinch::kiss::Wow::Whistling::unsure::(:alien::smooooth::-):-D:-P;-):w00t::cool::hehe::angry::crazy::doze::laugh::rolleyes::satisfied::blink::ermm::crying::pinch::kiss::Wow::Whistling::unsure::(:alien::smooooth::crazy::crazy::crazy:

:-):-D:-P;-):w00t::cool::hehe::angry::crazy::doze::laugh::rolleyes::satisfied::blink::ermm::crying::pinch::kiss::Wow::Whistling::unsure::(:alien::smooooth::-):-D:-P;-):w00t::cool::hehe::angry::crazy::doze::laugh::rolleyes::satisfied::blink::ermm::crying::pinch::kiss::Wow::Whistling::unsure::(:alien::smooooth::crazy::crazy::crazy:

:-):-D:-P;-):w00t::cool::hehe::angry::crazy::doze::laugh::rolleyes::satisfied::blink::ermm::crying::pinch::kiss::Wow::Whistling::unsure::(:alien::smooooth::-):-D:-P;-):w00t::cool::hehe::angry::crazy::doze::laugh::rolleyes::satisfied::blink::ermm::crying::pinch::kiss::Wow::Whistling::unsure::(:alien::smooooth::crazy::crazy::crazy:

:-):-D:-P;-):w00t::cool::hehe::angry::crazy::doze::laugh::rolleyes::satisfied::blink::ermm::crying::pinch::kiss::Wow::Whistling::unsure::(:alien::smooooth::-):-D:-P;-):w00t::cool::hehe::angry::crazy::doze::laugh::rolleyes::satisfied::blink::ermm::crying::pinch::kiss::Wow::Whistling::unsure::(:alien::smooooth::crazy::crazy::crazy:

:-):-D:-P;-):w00t::cool::hehe::angry::crazy::doze::laugh::rolleyes::satisfied::blink::ermm::crying::pinch::kiss::Wow::Whistling::unsure::(:alien::smooooth::-):-D:-P;-):w00t::cool::hehe::angry::crazy::doze::laugh::rolleyes::satisfied::blink::ermm::crying::pinch::kiss::Wow::Whistling::unsure::(:alien::smooooth::crazy::crazy::crazy:

Yes, that will look really :sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick::sick: awful.

Drat. I succumbed to the temptation :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush:...