"Marco Mariani" <marco@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:Xmmak.5925$f86.5631@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Philipp Post wrote:
>
>>> Does anyone have some suggestions about good resources that could help
>>> guide me in designing the structure of the databases? <
>>
>> Database Design For Mere-Mortals by Michael Hernandez is a good start
>> to get into this.
>
> Oh, I didn't read it, but I flipped through it and saw this in chapter
8:
>
>> Note
>>
>> I commonly create an ID field (such as EMPLOYEE ID, VENDOR ID,
DEPARTMENT
>> ID, CATEGORY ID, and so on) and use it as an artificial candidate key.
It
>> always conforms to the Elements of a Candidate Key, makes a great
primary
>> key (eventually), and, as you'll see in Chapter 10, makes the process
of
>> establi****ng table relation****ps much easier.
>
> If that is how he constructs his other examples, his POV greatly limits
> the scope of the book. I would not recommend it.
[ SNIP ]
Googling brings up an excerpt of that book (first page of Google results
when using "candidate" and "key" as search terms). At least based on that
excerpt it doesn't sound like he's advocating the willy-nilly creation of
surrogate keys. Possibly when he used the word "commonly" in the excerpt
you
quoted, that he genuinely just meant "commonly"...as in, there was no
candidate key already, or what candidate key there was wasn't particularly
attractive.
AHS
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