NYCPHP Meetup

[Jim Hendricks]

Jeff,

Why can't you build your own table for make/model?  You can run a process
that parses each row of data lookup the string in your table.  If the string
doesn't exist in your table, add it with a unique int ID.  If it exists in
your table, move to the next row of your denormalized table.  What you will
end up with is a table with 2 columns, ID and MakeModel.  ID is an int set
as primary key, MakeModel is a varchar with a unique index.  Now you can
build your form using the ID's from your table rather than the MakeModel
string.

Even if the data is coming from another source, normalization of the data
makes much more sense than trying to use the data in denormalized condition.
Your app will perform much better and will be much easier to troubleshoot
and maintain.  Even if the data is not under your control I would sugest
writing a background process that periodically parses the data and puts it
into your own normalized tables.

Jim
______________________________________________________________
Jim Hendricks, President, Biz Computing, Inc
Phone:  (201) 599-9380     Email: jim at bizcomputinginc.com
Web: www.bizcomputinginc.com
Snail:  Jim Hendricks,  Biz Computing, Inc.,  255 McKinley Ave, New Milford,
NJ 07646
______________________________________________________________

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff" <jsiegel1 at optonline.net>
To: "NYPHP Talk" <talk at nyphp.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 7:48 PM
Subject: RE: [nycphp-talk] MySQL and spaces in data


> The purpose:
>
> If a box is checked it means that the dealer sells parts for that
> particular make/model. This data is then used to match a purchaser to a
> dealer(s) depending on the user's needs.
>
> Now I *wish* I could say that the makes/models had identifying keys
> however...things are worse than that. This data is matched against a
> table containing 2.5 million rows (that's right! 2.5 million rows) of
> non-normalized data that contains information on most every part for
> most every make/model made since about 1952. This data comes from
> another source and, therefore, there is nothing that can be done to
> normalize the data (it's a L-O-N-G story as to why it can not be
> normalized...makes/models are simply text strings within each row).
> Consequently, the text is needed because a match is made by matching
> text strings.
>
> Not the greatest system, I admit, but sometimes one has to work with
> what one is given.
>
> I've tried the str_replace and that seems to have done the trick (at
> least in preselecting check boxes based on post data) and I'll use it
> again to strip out underscores when I save it to the database.
>
> I'm open to suggestions if you have another idea.
>
> Jeff
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Analysis & Solutions [mailto:danielc at analysisandsolutions.com]
> Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 6:02 PM
> To: NYPHP Talk
> Subject: Re: [nycphp-talk] MySQL and spaces in data
>
>
> Jeff:
>
> On Thu, Jun 19, 2003 at 05:36:16PM -0400, Jeff wrote:
> > Dan,
> >
> > Thanks for your input...here's some more info on what I'm doing.
> >
> > <input name="ALFA-ROMEO|GTV-6" type="checkbox" value="1" checked >
> > <input name="ALFA-ROMEO|SPIDER VELOCE" type="checkbox" value="1">
> >
> > First part gives me the manufacturer, second part gives me the model.
>
> But what you haven't clarified is the forms actual purpose.  Okay, so,
> you're processing the manufacturer and model in the checkboxes.  But
> what
> does it mean if someone checks the box?  In addition, what other data is
> submitted?  What are you doing with all of this data?
>
> Before writing what I just wrote, I started writing the following, so
> I'm
> leaving it here to avoid having to restate it later...
>
> You mentioned using a database.  I assume each manufacturer and each
> model
> are represented by integer based primary keys.  Right?  Again, if you
> want
> to store both the manufacturer and model ID numbers in the name
> attribute
> of the name element, do this:
>
>    <input name="cars[5][23]" ... />
>    <input name="cars[5][50]" ... />
>    <input name="cars[10][2]" ... />
>
> Where the first key is the manufacturer and the second key is the model.
>
>
> > The post data has underscores.
>
> Which is why I'm saying you should use use a different approach.
>
> --Dan
>
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