Cross Table References

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doverj - 03 Apr 2008 21:18 GMT

I'm curious about theory of cross table references. I understand the need
but I'm wondering best practices. Specifically, should Cross-tables only be
made up of foreign keys or is it possible to have other columns?

For example, would this be an acceptable solution.
Borrower (BorrowerID)
LoanType (LoanTypeID)
CrossTable (BorrowerID, LoanTypeID, LoanScore, LoanValue)

Or should cross-table only be made up of keys.
Borrower (BorrowerID)
LoanType (LoanTypeID)
CrossTable (BorrowerID, LoanTypeID)

Thank you.

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David Portas - 09 Apr 2008 06:32 GMT

> I'm curious about theory of cross table references. I understand the need
> but I'm wondering best practices. Specifically, should Cross-tables only
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> Thank you.

By "crosss table" I assume you mean a table that references more than one
other table using more than one foreign key - often called an "association
table" or "joining table"?

A table is a table. Use design principles like normalization if you are
unsure what other columns to include (if any).

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David Portas

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