data modeling question...

We have a number of entities that just contain "Y"/"N" values, since there is no boolean column datatype. I made an object data type made up of 20+ varchar2(1) columns. There are about 3 different data types of similar structure. I made a table that contains 3 different columns of each object data type. Is this a good way of designing this type of structure, where all data is localized in one table for faster searching. OR should I create 3 different tables for each object type that holds just the column names of their respective objet table type where the value is "Y".

An example would be: an object table type of all different types of music a person likes to listen to. In the first scenario, I created an object type of all types of music, and for each individual I would put a "Y" or "N". This structure would be a column inside the person table. OR in the latter scenario, I would create a foreign table that lists just types of music that person likes.

Which is more commonly used for faster searching? What if I have more than 3 types of entities that I need to link to the person which\ would add more joins to the query? Received on Tue Feb 22 2000 - 23:29:41 CST