Question Setting up a "Contact" database. (1 Viewer)

[Endre]

How do you set up a contact database? A general discussion on normalising a "best" database design. Especially helpful for the noobies.

Setting up a contact database sounds nice and simple......However:

I have a business cellphone number and a personal cellphone number.

I have a deskphone at my office, and a shared fax number which is also used by other people in my office downtown at my corporate address.

I have 3 clients that I work for at their locations that also have deskphone numbers (also shared in open plan office). And eMail addresses - which do get forwarded to, but people need to know my alias email addresses.

I live at home, with my wife. The house also has a telephone and fax number and home address which our family shares.

My daughter has a cellphone, but she can't take it to school, so I must call the school if someone else must collect her from school and get a message to her.

So, is it still so easy? Should this be a subjective discussion, or is there technically "one (and only one) best design solution" for this? (I'm only talking table design) BTW, I really really really dislike autonumbering and never, ever use it. Is this a personal thing, or do others feel the same way?

 

[alktrigger]

Here is how I would go about it if I knew that there would be a lot of different contact information for various contacts. It's not in-depth, but it allows for separating addresses and phone numbers as private, business, fax, etc.

Hope this helps.

 

[Endre]

Presumably I would have to set up a dummy company called "private" so I can store my own cellphone number. And another one called "Home"?

How do I store a phone number and a separate fax number to the same company (or home?).

The question "How can I contact you , by phone, at home ?" surely means you are using a form of autonumber in your pk's. And I so hate autonumbers.

Here's the real question: What happens when my home phone number changes? Now I have to go find my wife's entry and change it there also?

I'm only playing devils advocate here mind you......

 

[David Eagar]

Depends on the purpose of the database, is it for Business or Personal use? If business, then personal details should be kept to a minimum

 

[Endre]

What if I told you I can do it using only 2 Tables.......there is no trick either.....