Re: Store in one database column an array is a bad practice.

IIRC there is nothing in the relational model that prohibits this.

Personally, I would call it a bad practice, simply because it makes my life more difficult and I don't like it. :)

It does complicate the SQL somewhat, though I can't at the moment recall how to query a varray.

If you have repeating groups of a varray, that would violate first normal form.

eg. address_array_1, address_array_2...

Likewise an array of arrays would also violate 1NF ( I think). It would also be ugly.

I'm sure Lex will jump in here and provide an insightful answer to this.

Jared

On 8/18/05, Juan Carlos Reyes Pacheco <juancarlosreyesp_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi,
> I think to store in one database column an array is a bad practice.
> for example store in one colmun the person name, age and professoin, is
> wrong,
> it should be another column and/or another table, when a multicolumn
> array is stored in a column.
>
> Including the fact some features are not available for this kind of store.
>
> Do you have a valid reason to do this?
>
> Thank you
>
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-- 
Jared Still
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