Lo'oris wrote:
> On 14 Mag, 09:41, subtenante <zzsubtenant...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> do you maybe need more detailed infos?
>> The more the better ! Give as much as is safe.
>
> ok.
>
> i already have first table. it contains an entry for each player
> playing in a match (we're talking about a team game). it has some
> fields (more or less 6), and all of them are used.
>
> now i have to add stats (many. such as 15, i think, i didn't count
> them yet) about what happened in the match. such as how many points a
> player scored, etc.
> If i add these fields into the table i already have, **most** of them
> will be NULL because simply that player didn't do everything.
> I am concerned about having so many unused fields, maybe they slow
> everything down, or take too many space?
>
> So, i either add those fields in that table, or (didn't thought about
> that) i create a new table with the empty fields (so not affecting the
> performance of the first table when i need only his fields), or i
> create a new table with EAV approach (actually it would not have empty
> fields, but it would be redundant anyway, listing many times the same
> player ids and attribute name).
>
> On 14 Mag, 11:16, strawberry <zac.ca...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> case 2 sounds like an EAV approach - and, although used successfully
>> in some environments (seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity-Attribute-Value_model),
>> it's usually frowned upon in this NG.
>
> yes it's definitly EAV, i didn't knew the term but i knew the
> concept
>

Search for "database normalization". It should give you some guidelines
on what's the best for your case.


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Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
jstucklex@attglobal.net
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