Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 14.2. An example of a typical spreadsheet “database”
This spreadsheet is being used to keep track of store managers for a small chain of retail
stores. As you can see, this approach has problems as well.
•
Duplicate fields:
Each field on this spreadsheet is a duplicate field. If you take the
fields at face value, there are basically three fields in each instance: S
TORE
N
UMBER
, M
ANAGER
N
AME
, and A
SSISTANT
M
ANAGER
N
AME
.
•
Multipart fields:
Each field holds two values. The first field stores the store num-
ber and phone number, the second field stores the manager's first and last names,
and the third field stores the assistant manager's first and last names.
•
Multivalued fields:
The A
SSISTANT
M
ANAGER
field is a multivalued field because
there can be more than one assistant manager assigned to a particular store.
•
Difficult to use:
Data-oriented tasks that can be performed with ease in an RDBMS
program are tedious and time-consuming to carry out in a spreadsheet. For ex-
ample, it would take you some time to create a list containing only the name of
each store manager and his or her phone number.
