database setup

O

Orozco

I am setting up a database for a large mailing. Would it be best to have all
the excel files i have recieved from different individuals to be in different
tables or all in one table?

Thanks =)
 
I

Immanuel Sibero

For the majority they have the same information such as name address city
state zip email. But some have school district, provider id, clinic id that
is different.
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This is a group of people/contacts, therefore they should all be in one
table. You should NOT have one table for people with school district, and
another table for people with clinic ID. To expand on that concept, you
wouldnt put schools, or clinics in that people table. Schools should be in
one table and clinics should be in yet another table. So, basically a table
is a collection of all things that are similar (i.e. all people, all
schools, all clinics, etc. etc.)

also is it better to have first name last name seperate fields or
Click to expand...
together.

Better to have separate fields. In database processing, it's easier to
combine two or more fields together than it is to break apart one field.

HTH,
Immanuel Sibero
 
J

James Hahn

I hope that I am reading your question wrongly when I detect that you are
intending to put the EXCEL files into a database. It is, of course, the
information contained in the EXCEL files that will go into the database, and
you will almost certainly use more than one table. However, the tables will
be organised according to the data they contain, not the source of that
data.
 
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