Spouses with different last names in mailing list

[Ann]

Is there a standard way to handle spouses with different last names in a
mailing list database?

Right now all names are in one table, with FirstName and LastName fields,
and the kludge solution is to have (for example) "Jane Smith and John" in the
FirstName field, and "Doe" in the LastName field, so that when the two fields
were printed on an address label it would read as "Jane Smith and John Doe".
But this isn't a great solution: can't search the LastName field for the
first spouse's last name, etc.

What's the better way to do this? Have the spouses as two separate records
with some field indicating that they belong together, and programmatically
check that field when producing the mailing list?

 

[Paul Overway]

How one handles the situation you describe really depends on the specific
needs and the time/money they're willing to spend in implementing a
solution. Many people try to handle a couple as a single record, however,
there can be issues that crop up when you do that. For example, suppose
that one spouse is involved in an activity and the other isn't. Or suppose
you want to be able to look up a work phone for either person.

The way I've handled this situation is to create a separate record for each
individual, and then join them through another table to indicate their
relationship. I'll warn you that it can be a fairly complex design to
program though depending on how far you go with it. The list generator for
the program at site below is a good example and requires numerous queries
and lines of code. The list generator uses a function to analyze a set of
names and then create an output string for mailing purposes...that function
is at least 100 lines. It looks at the names, determines who should be
first in the string based on custom (i.e., male then female), determines
whether their last names are the same, what their titles are, etc, etc.
Depending on your data, there could be numerous exceptions to address, i.e.,
couples with different last names, including gay couples, etc. etc.

 

[Allen Browne]

For a demo of one approach to what Paul described, see:
People in households and companies
at:
http://allenbrowne.com/AppHuman.html

It describes how you can put an individual on a mailing list, or a couple,
depending on what they requested.

 

[david epsom dot com dot au]

I have a separate address table. I can link as many
people as I want to any address, and I can put anything
I want onto the address label.

And for commercial applications I have a separate
free form salutation field that does not have to match
first name or last name.

(david)