enquiry database

[strawberry]

i am creating an enquiry database, it will comprise of about 60 fields. can this all be in one table or should i split it down to more than one table.

here is a sample of some of the fields i am creating

what sort of pump do u require (answer will be a dropdown table)
what is the fluid (answer will be a dropdown table)
what is flow rate (free typing)
will the pump need to run dry (y/n)
does the flow rate need to be accurate (y/n)
if answer to above question is y then how accurate (free typing)

I also want to show units ie. when they answer the question 'what is flow rate' i want them to go to another field to choose the units ie. l/hr. this will be the case on many of the questions. so do i need to create a new field for these units each time. I am worried that i am going to end up with a table of about 100 fields


many thanks

Jane

 

[JohnLee]

Hi,

Well it would be a good idea to ensure that your database is normalised and then you can work out how to best create you enquiry DB.

From the information supplied it sounds very much like a questionnaire with multi-choice answers to a number of questions posed.

From that point of view I think you will need to consider carefully the sorts of responses that you might recieve, people have a habit of not doing what you require and therefore this can cause problems if you haven't catered for any number of senarios for each question posed.

I'm not saying that putting all these fields in one table is wrong, nor am I saying it's right, you need to have all the relevant information to hand to decide on the best approach and in the first instance I would identify what needs normalisation and then create my tables accordingly.

Good Luck

John

 

[strawberry]

thank you for your reply

many thanks

jane