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Message-ID: <12b7ac1e0606011819k483760fbq910f4fcf9dcf7762@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2006 13:19:25 +1200
From: "David Clarke" <pigwin32@gmail.com>
To: pgsql-sql@postgresql.org
Subject: Re: Table design question
In-Reply-To: <20060601234424.GB1610@clueinc.net>
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References: <12b7ac1e0606010405u6e062f71mf4adbaeb6c46df5f@mail.gmail.com>
	<e5n90p$1i7g$1@news.hub.org> <60r728sl9r.fsf@dba2.int.libertyrms.com>
	<20060601234424.GB1610@clueinc.net>

On 6/2/06, postgres@jal.org <postgres@jal.org> wrote:
> On Thu, 01 Jun 2006, Chris Browne wrote:
>
> > Celko is decidedly *NOT* promoting the notion that you should use a
> > 100 byte long "natural key."
> >
> > Jamie's comments of "Orthodox versus Reform" seem reasonably
> > appropriate in outlining something of the difference between the
> > positions.
>
> Just to be clear, that was all I was trying to do. I probably should
> have mentioned that any attempt to use such an attribute as a PK should
> be met with a baseball bat or other shillelagh-ish implement, but was
> interrupted several times during that email drafting.
>
> > I may not care for doing this; you may not either; a company that
> > builds auto parts that they want to sell into the automotive industry
> > may care about standardizing their part IDs quite a lot.
>
> This is another important point. In some situations, a rigid data model
> can be a godsend to coders. If you happen to sit in such an enviable
> position, I would encourage you to take advantage of it. (This doesn't
> mean picking bad keys, of course.)
>
> None of this should be taken as bashing Celko - he's a smart man and an
> excellent source of advice.
>
> -j
>

Thanks everyone who replied (and also for the insightful and measured
responses, not every news group is so lucky). I had progressed down
the path of the serial id column but re-reading Celko's book - he
spends some pages railing against "proprietary auto-numbering
features" - I wanted to feel confident I was making the right choice.

Thanks again
Dave