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Go Back  dBforums > General > Database Concepts & Design > Applying DB Normalization to Folder Structures.

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Old 09-27-05, 22:17
Potion9 Potion9 is offline
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Applying DB Normalization to Folder Structures.

Maybe this helps illustrate my question a bit:

Primary Key example:
http://www.element9design.com/High.pdf

Linking example ( one-to-many ):
http://www.element9design.com/Linking.pdf
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Justin here. First time posting. Any replies are appreciated.

My folders are always a mess. The organization to my folders, for projects, is always inconsistent. They do not scale well and/or do not make the best use of storage space. Usually grappling with things such as, if folders should be dated, noted by version numbers, labeled by descriptions, etc.

Linking files is a big thing. One file might have ten files that are counterparts to the ‘one’ file. Similar to a foreign key linking ( the folder of the 10 files ), to the primary key ( the one file ) of another table. Say the 10 files were not 10, but where a 100 files, 200mb per each, named inside "FolderWith100Files." Having to duplicate that folder every time we increment the version number of the 'one' file would waist a lot of space. Say for instance from (we'll call the 'one' file 'FileOne') FileOne_v1-0 to _v1-8 we don't need to alter any of the 100 counterpart files, but on _v1-9 one of the 100 files needs to be changed. In order to keep the one-to-many relationship independent of the versioning, and keep consistency and organization, we would need to keep duplicating the 'FolderWith100Files.' The version number between the ‘one’ file and the ‘FolderWith100File’ would need to stay parallel.

Can I apply Normalization to windows based folder structures?

Table > Parent Folder
Primary Key > Child Folder Name
( Non Foreign Key ) Row Field Names > File Names
( Foreign Keys ) Row Field Names > Second child Folder Names

See, the Foreign keys in DBs link to the Primary Keys of other tables. This is the equivalent of having files stored on the same level as a folder. A folder(s), on that same level, is considered a Foreign Key, in that context. That folder links to other files. The folder that links to the other files, is the primary key to the files it contains/links to.

Anyway, would anyone say this is an accurate equivalent of DB to Folder structure? Or better yet, if there is no real equal equivalent of the two, then would you say this is a good substitute. The whole point is, I'm trying to apply Normalization to Folder structures. That is 1st Normal Form, 2nd, and 3rd at least. No need for 4th or 5th. And I can't do that unless I can measure apples to apples.

Last edited by Potion9; 10-05-05 at 12:48. Reason: Better illustrates the question.
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