CODEWITHSUNDEEP
.netsql-serverdesign-patternsconfigurationdefault-value
Adrian Godong
Adrian Godong

Reputation: 8921

Default Value Storage

I have the following three tables:

And then I have the following sample data on the third table:

Item | Code
-----+-----
001  | A
002  | A
003  | B

There's a possibility that a new Item is added but does not have a code yet. I will assign a default code for this Item, say "Z".

My question is, which is better:

OR

Additional consideration: the default code will always be returned, regardless whether an Item have been assigned a Code or not. So the result from the above data would be:

Code A: Item 001, Item 002
Code B: Item 003
Code Z: Item 001, Item 002, Item 003

Upvotes: 0

Views: 71

Answers (1)

gbn
gbn

Reputation: 432667

Either: don't put a row in ItemCode yet until you know the code (read from file)

Or: make the Code column nullable in ItemCode so it's Unknown/Undefined (depending on your pedantry) and left join/isnull.

I personally don't like storing "default" or "placeholder" values. If you don't know the code, then put nothing. What if you have 2 new items for example?

The other question is: can you deal with this in the client?

Upvotes: 1

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