Naming Conventions, etc.

• Names describe the content meaningfully and concisely. e.g.,
  tblPerson is both meaningful and concise.
  tblData is not meaningful.
  MembersOfTheAssociationTable is not concise.
• Capitalize the first character of each distinct word, but use lower case for prefixes, e.g., vuePersonLanguageSkill
• Spell with letters and numbers only. Numbers should be used sparingly. .
• Abbreviations should be used sparingly. However, abbreviated object prefixes are often helpful, e.g. tbl, vue.
• No spaces. The underscore character "_" is normally to be used only in the requirement numbers and database names, e.g. vuePerson_2_75 or QYY_DBName_Owner

	Conceptual data model	Logical data model	Physical data model
Entity/Table Name	Entity name: use singular noun. Capitalized first character of each word BookBuyer	Entity name: use singular noun. Capitalized first character of each word BookBuyer	Table name: use singular noun with 'tbl' prefix. Capitalized first character of each word tblBookBuyer
Identifier Name	Entity name, plus 'ID' BookBuyerID	Entity name, plus 'ID' BookBuyerID	Not applicable
Primary key Name	Not applicable	Not applicable	Table name without 'tbl' prefix, plus 'ID' BookBuyerID
Attribute Name	Not applicable	Capitalized first character of each word (See below for Boolean attribute) LicenseNumber isTaxExempt	Capitalized first character of each word (See below for Boolean column) LicenseNumber isTaxExempt
Foreign key Name	Not applicable	Not applicable	FK name is identical to the name of the PK of the primary key table (parent table). SupplierID

• Database Names:
  • QYY_DBName_Owner, where ...
    • QYY is the Quarter and Year
    • The DBName will usually be indicated in the instructions you are given
    • The Owner will usually be your team name or your family name
    e.g.
    Individual db: S23_QACS_Smith for "Spring 2023", "Queen Anne Curiosity Shop", student name "Smith"
    Team db: W23_SCA_Rabbit for Winter 2023, Sister Cities Association, team "Rabbit"
• Use these prefixes (all in lower case) for tables, views and scripts:
  • tbl - for tables – e.g., tblPerson
  • vue - for views – The view name should reflect the view’s purpose and [req#] – e.g., vuePerson_3_30, vueFrmPerson_3_30
  • script - for scripts:
    • plus the lab # associated with the script
    • plus a word or phrase that describes the action performed
    • e.g., scriptLab2CreateTblPerson
• Table Names
  • Singular nouns are preferred for table names:
    tblPerson, not tblPersons or tblPeople.
  • Simple, yet as meaningful as possible.
    tblCity is simple, but is this a list of local cities? Or of Sister cities? It's not clear.
    tblSCACity: "SCA" stands for "Sister City Association" which is not helpful here. Why? Because this is the SCA database, so "SCA" does not distingush one table from another.
    tblSisterCity would the clearest, most understandable name since it clearly identifies the content of the table, but is still reasonably concise.
  • Tables that are "associative entities" will normally be named after the two (or more) entities they join together – e.g. tblCommitteePerson would sit between tblCommittee and tblPerson.
• Field Names in tables and views
  • Prefix not required, but allowed if useful for clarity.
  • Primary key fields that are identity type (self-incrementing integer fields: 1, 2, 3, ...) will take the table name (less the prefix) and the characters “ID” in upper case, – e.g. SisterCityID for the PK field of tblSisterCity.
  • Foreign keys will normally have the same name as the primary key field in the table to which they refer (e.g. SisterCityID when used as a foreign key).
  • Special Names for Fields:
    • Most attribute (field) names are noun phrases,
      e.g. LastName, OldPrice or DateOfBirth.
    • However, fields with a Boolean datatype may be more readable as an adjective phrase (e.g. Complete, ShippingIncluded or Taxable) or as a verb phrase (e.g. IncludesShipping, isTaxable or HasView)
• View Names
  • Append the Requirement ID to the name of all views. For example, the view required by [req 2.90] in the Lab 2 instructions must end as shown here: vuePersonMembership_2_90.
  • Views are SELECT statements that have been stored by name by the DBMS (e.g. vueTblPerson_2_30). A view can be referenced in another view by its name.
  • Views that were designed for a specific table, form, report, control, or document may be named after the object they support – e.g. vueTblMembership_3_110, vueFrmMembership_3_110, vueDocWelcomeLetter_2_90
  • Views that combine data from multiple tables may be named after the entities they associate – e.g., vuePersonMembership_3_230
• ERDs and Data Models: Example names would be for Lab 3 ...
  • TeamName_Lab3.vsdx   for the Visio Data Model in SCA Lab 3
  • TeamName_Lab3.mwb     for the MySQL Workbench ERDs in SCA Lab 3
  • ERD_Lab_3                   for the SQL Server ERD diagrams in Lab 3

END OF NAMING CONVENTIONS DOCUMENT