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MS Access Forum / General 2 / March 2007Help designing this database
What would be the best way to design this database with multiple tables and all tables have a common similarities: TABLES (divided by type of allegations): investigation referrals anonymous tips staff referrals pattern claims eligibility review document request false injury allegations ALL above tables will have these controls: Client# First name Last name each client# can also have multiple claims (claim#). The tables above could have the same client# w/same claim#. I was thinking of creating a separate table calling it CLIENT TABLE that will hold all the client#, first name, and last name. Client# is the unique/key. But not all TABLES (allegations) above will be related to the client. At the same time, if there are multiple allegations for a client, I want to be able to do a search and the database will provide me with all the tables (allegations) where a certain client# is found? If someone can direct me where I could find a sample of such document that will help me designing this particular database. If more info is needed, pls let me know. Thank you, Sharon Sharon Consider stepping away from the computer and spending time with paper and pencil. To get the best use of Access' features and functions, your data will need to be organized in a way that Access can best use, i.e., well-normalized relational tables. Having multiple tables with the same fields in each is what you'd do if you were using a spreadsheet ... but not a relational database. Repeating ClientFirstName and ClientLastName in multiple fields, and/or multiple tables is what you'd do if you were using a spreadsheet ... but not ... (you know!). With your paper and pencil, jot down each of the "things" about which you want to keep information -- for example, based on what you described, I'll guess that you want to keep information about persons, about allegations, and about claims (although I'm not clear if those last two are synonyms). Check Access HELP on "normalization", and check Jeff Conrad's site: http://www.accessmvp.com/JConrad/accessjunkie/resources.html#DatabaseDesign101 Good luck! Regards Jeff Boyce Microsoft Office/Access MVP > What would be the best way to design this database with multiple > tables and all tables have a common similarities: [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > Thank you, > Sharon Hi Jeff, Thanks for the recommendation. I already started with the pen and paper approach. It's a little slow but I think this will be the best approach to this particular database. This is the first time I'm creating something this big and I didn't want it to take a lot of space in the future. I'm also getting re-acquinted with 'normalization.' Thank a lot, Sharon Sharon Given the (extremely low) cost of hard drive space these days (?!500 Gb for <$200?!), you may not need to worry about the space the db takes. But if you understand "normalization", you understand that getting the table structure right from the start can make a big difference. Feel free to post back your questions as you work through this ... Good luck! Regards Jeff Boyce Microsoft Office/Access MVP > Hi Jeff, > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Sharon |
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