The Weird and The Wonderful

The Weird and The Wonderful forum is a place to post Coding Horrors, Worst Practices, and the occasional flash of brilliance.

We all come across code that simply boggles the mind. Lazy kludges, embarrassing mistakes, horrid workarounds and developers just not quite getting it. And then somedays we come across - or write - the truly sublime.

Post your Best, your worst, and your most interesting. But please - no programming questions . This forum is purely for amusement and discussions on code snippets. All actual programming questions will be removed.

First Prev Next

Re: 4096 Columns should be enough for anyone.

rastaVnuce29-Jul-08 23:33

rastaVnuce

29-Jul-08 23:33

(again on the Gates thing...)
Well, 255 columns should be enough for anyone!

To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.

Re: 4096 Columns should be enough for anyone.

Guffa29-Jul-08 1:21

Guffa

29-Jul-08 1:21

TRCH (The Real Coding Horror) is in my opinion the database design.

As comparison... For performance reasons we have a separate database intended for read-access, to which we copy the data in a less relational manner. The result is a few flat tables with a horrible number of columns. Still the worst one only has 160 columns...

Despite everything, the person most likely to be fooling you next is yourself.

Re: 4096 Columns should be enough for anyone.

Natza Mitzi5-Aug-08 0:37

Natza Mitzi

5-Aug-08 0:37

I am sorry to tell you that limitations like this exist in many places.
For example you can not display this data since DataGrids have a limitation of 65000 pixel width.
As you can see I marked this as news Wink | ;)

Natza Mitzi

Re: 4096 Columns should be enough for anyone.

KarstenK5-Aug-08 1:56

KarstenK

5-Aug-08 1:56

Are you sure that the database isnt confusing about rows and columns?
Are the needed? Who has to deal with such a lot of columns?

Confused | :confused:

Greetings from Germany

Re: 4096 Columns should be enough for anyone.

KarstenK6-Aug-08 2:20

KarstenK

6-Aug-08 2:20

I am curious about what you will save in 1000 columns? Confused | :confused:

Greetings from Germany

Re: 4096 Columns should be enough for anyone.

Natza Mitzi7-Aug-08 2:38

Natza Mitzi

7-Aug-08 2:38

Datamining apps require many precomputed columns one can easily reach more than 1000 columns

Natza Mitzi

Re: 4096 Columns should be enough for anyone.

ToddHileHoffer14-Aug-08 7:20

ToddHileHoffer

14-Aug-08 7:20

I think the original poster was goofing.

What possible entity could have 4000 attributes?

I didn't get any requirements for the signature

Re: 4096 Columns should be enough for anyone.

Cristian Amarie18-Aug-08 9:10

Cristian Amarie

18-Aug-08 9:10

For 1000 columns, all can be done is to emit a fatwa for the db "architect".
("Tell me, people, am I going insane?" - Black Sabbath - Sabotage, 1975, "Am I going insane (Radio)").

Nuclear launch detected

Is this a coding horror?

Mattia Locatelli23-Jul-08 4:30

Mattia Locatelli

23-Jul-08 4:30

I'm working on a project where all queries are like this one. It works perfectly but I think is quite hard to understand. What do you think is this a coding horror?

SELECT DISTINCT
 
TDB_Child.id_childtdb, 
TDB_Child.id_tdb, 
TDB_Child_Horizontal.dim5, 
ISNULL  ((SELECT description FROM TDB_ChildDesc WHERE (id_childtdb = TDB_Child.id_childtdb) AND (id_lang = @Language) AND (id_tdb = @Template) AND (id_dim = 'PDC_SINT')),'[DESC - ' + CAST(TDB_Child.id_childtdb AS nvarchar) + ']') AS childtdb_Description, 
ISNULL((SELECT description FROM TDB_ChildDesc AS TDB_ChildDesc_3 WHERE (id_childtdb = TDB_Child_Horizontal.dim5) AND (id_lang = @Language) AND (id_tdb = @Template) AND (id_dim = 'COM_PROP')), '[DESC - ' + CAST(TDB_Child_Horizontal.dim5 AS nvarchar) + ']') AS childtdb_Description2,
TDB_Child.flag, 
TDB_Child.ordine,
(SELECT ISNULL(SUM(valore), 0) AS Expr1 FROM TDB_FlatTable AS Act WHERE (dim10 LIKE @Country + '%') AND (dim1 = @Year) AND (dim6 <> 'TotaleBu') AND (dim5 = TDB_Child_Horizontal.dim5) AND (dim3 = 'R4') AND (dim8 = TDB_FlatTable.dim8) AND (dim2 = @Period)) AS R4,
(SELECT ISNULL(SUM(valore), 0) AS Expr1 FROM TDB_FlatTable AS Act WHERE (dim10 LIKE @Country + '%') AND (dim1 = @Year) AND (dim6 <> 'TotaleBu') AND (dim5 = TDB_Child_Horizontal.dim5) AND (dim3 = '3YP2008-2010') AND (dim8 = TDB_FlatTable.dim8) AND (dim2 = @Period)) AS Budget,
(SELECT ISNULL(SUM(valore), 0) AS Expr1 FROM TDB_FlatTable AS Act WHERE (dim10 LIKE @Country + '%') AND (dim1 = @Year - 1) AND (dim6 <> 'TotaleBu') AND (dim5 = TDB_Child_Horizontal.dim5) AND (dim3 = 'Consuntivo') AND (dim8 = TDB_FlatTable.dim8) AND (dim2 = @Period)) AS Consuntivo,
TDB_Child_Horizontal.Ordine2, 
CAST(0 AS NUMERIC) AS Delta 

FROM  TDB_Child 
INNER JOIN (SELECT DISTINCT TDB_Child_5.id_childtdb, TDB_H.dim5, TDB_H.Ordine2 FROM TDB_Child AS TDB_Child_5 CROSS JOIN (SELECT     id_childtdb AS dim5, ordine AS Ordine2  FROM TDB_Child AS TDB_Child_4 WHERE (id_report = 'CE') AND (id_tdb = @Template) AND (id_dim = 'COM_PROP') AND (visibile = 1)) AS TDB_H WHERE  (TDB_Child_5.id_tdb = @Template) AND (TDB_Child_5.id_dim = 'PDC_SINT') AND (TDB_Child_5.id_report = 'CE') AND (TDB_Child_5.visibile = 1)) AS TDB_Child_Horizontal ON TDB_Child.id_childtdb = TDB_Child_Horizontal.id_childtdb 
LEFT OUTER JOIN TDB_FlatTable ON TDB_Child.id_childtdb = TDB_FlatTable.dim8

WHERE
(TDB_Child.id_tdb = @Template) AND 
(TDB_Child.id_dim = 'PDC_SINT') AND 
(TDB_Child.id_report = 'CE') AND 
(TDB_Child.id_childtdb NOT IN ('Taxes', 'NetIncome', '<SPACES6>', '<SPACES7>', 'ROS')) AND (TDB_Child.visibile = 1)
UNION
SELECT
id_childtdb, 
id_tdb, 
dim5, 
childtdb_Description, 
childtdb_Description2, 
flag, 
ordine, 
CASE R4_PV WHEN 0 THEN 0 ELSE R4_GM / R4_PV * 100 END AS R4, 
CASE Budget_PV WHEN 0 THEN 0 ELSE Budget_GM / Budget_PV * 100 END AS Budget, 
CASE Consuntivo_PV WHEN 0 THEN 0 ELSE Consuntivo_GM / Consuntivo_PV * 100 END AS Consuntivo, 
Ordine2, 
CAST(0 AS NUMERIC) AS Delta
FROM (SELECT DISTINCT TDB_Child_3.id_childtdb, TDB_Child_3.id_tdb, TDB_Child_Horizontal_1.dim5, ISNULL
                                                  ((SELECT     description
                                                      FROM         TDB_ChildDesc AS TDB_ChildDesc_2
                                                      WHERE     (id_childtdb = TDB_Child_3.id_childtdb) AND (id_lang = @Language) AND (id_tdb = @Template) AND (id_dim = 'PDC_SINT')), 
                                              '[DESC - ' + CAST(TDB_Child_3.id_childtdb AS nvarchar) + ']') AS childtdb_Description, ISNULL
                                                  ((SELECT     description
                                                      FROM         TDB_ChildDesc AS TDB_ChildDesc_1
                                                      WHERE     (id_childtdb = TDB_Child_Horizontal_1.dim5) AND (id_lang = @Language) AND (id_tdb = @Template) AND 
                                                                            (id_dim = 'COM_PROP')), '[DESC - ' + CAST(TDB_Child_Horizontal_1.dim5 AS nvarchar) + ']') AS childtdb_Description2, 
                                              TDB_Child_3.flag, TDB_Child_3.ordine,
                                                  (SELECT     ISNULL(SUM(valore), 0) AS Expr1
                                                    FROM          TDB_FlatTable AS Act
                                                    WHERE      (dim10 LIKE @Country + '%') AND (dim1 = @Year) AND (dim6 <> 'TotaleBu') AND (dim5 = TDB_Child_Horizontal_1.dim5) AND 
                                                                           (dim3 = 'R4') AND (dim8 = 'ProductionValue') AND (dim2 = @Period)) AS R4_PV,
                                                  (SELECT     ISNULL(SUM(valore), 0) AS Expr1
                                                    FROM          TDB_FlatTable AS Act
                                                    WHERE      (dim10 LIKE @Country + '%') AND (dim1 = @Year) AND (dim6 <> 'TotaleBu') AND (dim5 = TDB_Child_Horizontal_1.dim5) AND 
                                                                           (dim3 = '3YP2008-2010') AND (dim8 = 'ProductionValue') AND (dim2 = @Period)) AS Budget_PV,
                                                  (SELECT     ISNULL(SUM(valore), 0) AS Expr1
                                                    FROM          TDB_FlatTable AS Act
                                                    WHERE      (dim10 LIKE @Country + '%') AND (dim1 = @Year - 1) AND (dim6 <> 'TotaleBu') AND (dim5 = TDB_Child_Horizontal_1.dim5) 
                                                                           AND (dim3 = 'Consuntivo') AND (dim8 = 'ProductionValue') AND (dim2 = @Period)) AS Consuntivo_PV,
                                                  (SELECT     ISNULL(SUM(valore), 0) AS Expr1
                                                    FROM          TDB_FlatTable AS Act
                                                    WHERE      (dim10 LIKE @Country + '%') AND (dim1 = @Year) AND (dim6 <> 'TotaleBu') AND (dim5 = TDB_Child_Horizontal_1.dim5) AND 
                                                                           (dim3 = 'R4') AND (dim8 = 'GrossOperatingMargin') AND (dim2 = @Period)) AS R4_GM,
                                                  (SELECT     ISNULL(SUM(valore), 0) AS Expr1
                                                    FROM          TDB_FlatTable AS Act
                                                    WHERE      (dim10 LIKE @Country + '%') AND (dim1 = @Year) AND (dim6 <> 'TotaleBu') AND (dim5 = TDB_Child_Horizontal_1.dim5) AND 
                                                                           (dim3 = '3YP2008-2010') AND (dim8 = 'GrossOperatingMargin') AND (dim2 = @Period)) AS Budget_GM,
                                                  (SELECT     ISNULL(SUM(valore), 0) AS Expr1
                                                    FROM          TDB_FlatTable AS Act
                                                    WHERE      (dim10 LIKE @Country + '%') AND (dim1 = @Year - 1) AND (dim6 <> 'TotaleBu') AND (dim5 = TDB_Child_Horizontal_1.dim5) 
                                                                           AND (dim3 = 'Consuntivo') AND (dim8 = 'GrossOperatingMargin') AND (dim2 = @Period)) AS Consuntivo_GM, 
                                              TDB_Child_Horizontal_1.Ordine2, CAST(0 AS NUMERIC) AS Delta
                       FROM          TDB_Child AS TDB_Child_3 INNER JOIN
                                                  (SELECT DISTINCT TDB_Child_2.id_childtdb, TDB_H_1.dim5, TDB_H_1.Ordine2
                                                    FROM          TDB_Child AS TDB_Child_2 CROSS JOIN
                                                                               (SELECT     id_childtdb AS dim5, ordine AS Ordine2
                                                                                 FROM          TDB_Child AS TDB_Child_1
                                                                                 WHERE      (id_report = 'CE') AND (id_tdb = @Template) AND (id_dim = 'COM_PROP') AND (visibile = 1)) AS TDB_H_1
                                                    WHERE      (TDB_Child_2.id_tdb = @Template) AND (TDB_Child_2.id_dim = 'PDC_SINT') AND (TDB_Child_2.id_report = 'CE') AND 
                                                                           (TDB_Child_2.visibile = 1)) AS TDB_Child_Horizontal_1 ON 
                                              TDB_Child_3.id_childtdb = TDB_Child_Horizontal_1.id_childtdb LEFT OUTER JOIN
                                              TDB_FlatTable AS TDB_FlatTable_1 ON TDB_Child_3.id_childtdb = TDB_FlatTable_1.dim8
                       WHERE      (TDB_Child_3.id_tdb = @Template) AND (TDB_Child_3.id_dim = 'PDC_SINT') AND (TDB_Child_3.id_childtdb IN ('ROS')) AND 
                                              (TDB_Child_3.id_report = 'CE') AND (TDB_Child_3.visibile = 1)) AS ROS
ORDER BY TDB_Child.ordine, TDB_Child_Horizontal.Ordine2