create one table or two table?

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a quick question in regards to table design.

 Type(table 1):  typeId  TypeName
                   1     animal
                   2     fish

 Item(table 2):  itemId itemName itemValue typeId
                   1     horse    abc        1
                   2     pig      def        1
                   3     shark    ghi        2

i want to create only one table

 TypeItem:      itemId  itemName itemValue typeId
                   1     animal   null        0
                   2     fish     null        0
                   3     horse    abc         1
                   4     pig      def         1
                   5     shark    ghi        2

which way is better?

Posted 1-Aug-12 2:08am

CharlieZhu1984

Updated 1-Aug-12 2:42am

Malli_S

v3

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Kenneth Haugland 1-Aug-12 8:11am

Id use two but Im not an expert. There could be upgrades were it is useful.

Unareshraju 1-Aug-12 8:11am

based on your requirement,
simply think your way......... that's all

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Tim Corey · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-01T02:22:00

Better is such a subjective term. In my opinion, the first way is better. The reason for this is because of the assumption people will have about your data. When they read your table, they will be expecting a type of animal/fish. If they get the generic, that probably won't be what you want. That means you will need to filter these records out of every resultset. These first two rows of data don't mean the same thing as the rest of the data. That is a problem, in my opinion.

I think it makes the issue even easier because you are intending to create a join either way you do this. Therefore, make life easier for yourself and don't mix your types of data in the same table.

Sandeep Mewara · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-01T02:38:00

Solution 2

First one is better based on the standard rule of database design. Most of the times, Normalization is suggested for better data handling. Option 1 follows 2-NF.

Read: Database Normalization Basics[^]

Posted 1-Aug-12 2:38am

Sandeep Mewara