Chapter 5
Building a Multitable Relational Database
In This Chapter
Deciding what to include in a database
Determining relationships among data items
Linking related tables with keys
Designing for data integrity
Normalizing the database
In this chapter, I take you through an example of how to design a multitable database. The first step to designing any database is to identify what to include and what not to include. The next steps involve deciding how the included items relate to each other and then setting up tables accordingly. I also discuss how to use keys, which enable you to access individual records and indexes quickly.
A database must do more than merely hold your data. It must also protect the data from becoming corrupted. In the latter part of this chapter, I discuss how to protect the integrity of your data. Normalization is one of the key methods you can use to protect the integrity of a database. I discuss the various normal forms and point out the kinds of problems ...
Get SQL For Dummies, 8th Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
