Is this Correct database design

HI all,
I have a claims database, which has a header table, details table and
otherinfo table. The header table will contain claim header info, ie
claimnumber date of loss etc., the details would contain claim detail, as
details of loss, damage ammounts, etc, the otherinfo contains information
not common to all classes of claims, so I would have a motor table
conmtaining driver, motor type model etc, GPA, would contain empoyee name,
earnings medical etc.
Now this is just in pricipal, hence no ddl, but anyway, some one suggested
that for the otherinfo table I create a descriptor table that will enable us
to add numerous columns for this "otherinfo" information at will
his quote is:
"descriptor table that can hold the field names, the data type, an input
string regular expression, and a bit field for required or not. Field Start
Date, and Field End Date. Fields can then be added and removed at will"
Whyle this might sound good, my gut says its a bad idea, for starters, it
could be a nightmare trying to create stable reports, etc.
Any other thought here or suggestions
Thanks
RobertYour gut feeling is correct; this is generally a bad idea. SQL
databases should be used for strongly-typed and stable schemas; in
other words, the designer should know what the information is going to
look like before you develop it. Trying to dynamically construct
tables from columns and column values added at will is a performance
nightmare. If a column is needed for reporting purposes (or some other
application purpose) then alter your design.
That being said, there are other database engines that MAY do what you
require, such as object-oriented databases; I've never worked with
them, so I don't know for sure. Yo may also explore other options for
holding miscellaneous information (such as the xml datatype in SQL
2005). However, what your friend is suggesting is NOT a relational
design, and therfore should not be used in an RDBMS solution.
HTH,
Stusql

Is there any way to use fields in a Header and/or Footer sections

I am New to reporting services and do not know most of it but the first
hurdle that i have encountered is of how to use a fields in a header/footer
section. the requirement that i have reports forces me to use fields but RS
does not allow it.
I was wondering if there is any workaround for this limitationYou can do this but you have to use either an aggrate (sum, count) or first.
Bruce Loehle-Conger
MVP SQL Server Reporting Services
"Sirish Saxena" <SirishSaxena@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6A79C35A-BD05-4E15-B491-938D6BDCD0B0@.microsoft.com...
>I am New to reporting services and do not know most of it but the first
> hurdle that i have encountered is of how to use a fields in a
> header/footer
> section. the requirement that i have reports forces me to use fields but
> RS
> does not allow it.
> I was wondering if there is any workaround for this limitation|||thanks i am trying to print a company logo as this is not a numeric datatype
how would i use a aggregate function....if you can give me an example that
will be a great help.
Also I was thinking more in lines of declaring a vriable and storing a field
value in it and then assigning it to an Image item......the only problem
hereis i do not know how to do declare a variable
"Bruce L-C [MVP]" wrote:
> You can do this but you have to use either an aggrate (sum, count) or first.
>
> --
> Bruce Loehle-Conger
> MVP SQL Server Reporting Services
> "Sirish Saxena" <SirishSaxena@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:6A79C35A-BD05-4E15-B491-938D6BDCD0B0@.microsoft.com...
> >I am New to reporting services and do not know most of it but the first
> > hurdle that i have encountered is of how to use a fields in a
> > header/footer
> > section. the requirement that i have reports forces me to use fields but
> > RS
> > does not allow it.
> > I was wondering if there is any workaround for this limitation
>
>|||Is the data you want in a field in the dataset? That is what I thought you
were looking for. Note I said aggragate OR use first. Use the expression
builder and it should suggest using first.
Bruce Loehle-Conger
MVP SQL Server Reporting Services
"Sirish Saxena" <SirishSaxena@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:36C6B519-412D-4F4E-93F1-8AD781BA36AD@.microsoft.com...
> thanks i am trying to print a company logo as this is not a numeric
> datatype
> how would i use a aggregate function....if you can give me an example
> that
> will be a great help.
> Also I was thinking more in lines of declaring a vriable and storing a
> field
> value in it and then assigning it to an Image item......the only problem
> hereis i do not know how to do declare a variable
>
> "Bruce L-C [MVP]" wrote:
>> You can do this but you have to use either an aggrate (sum, count) or
>> first.
>>
>> --
>> Bruce Loehle-Conger
>> MVP SQL Server Reporting Services
>> "Sirish Saxena" <SirishSaxena@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:6A79C35A-BD05-4E15-B491-938D6BDCD0B0@.microsoft.com...
>> >I am New to reporting services and do not know most of it but the first
>> > hurdle that i have encountered is of how to use a fields in a
>> > header/footer
>> > section. the requirement that i have reports forces me to use fields
>> > but
>> > RS
>> > does not allow it.
>> > I was wondering if there is any workaround for this limitation
>>|||Ok, i will expllain the whole situation. I i am storing Logos of different
companies in a MS SQL DB, now i want to assign this filed to an Image. The
Image item is in a Header section. Header Section does not allow to refer to
any fields, which is where my problem starts. I do not want to move header to
body as that will print logo at all pages. I have tried First but it errors
out. So again my question is is there any way i can work around this? I was
also thinking if there is any way that i can defined a variable (much like in
VB or C#) ans assign the logo field to this variable and then assign the
variable to the image field, but i do not know how to declare a variable in
Reporting Services and then use it in header section.
ANY HELP WILL BE REALLY APPRECIATED!!!|||What is the error message?
What is the expression you are using that doesn't work?
=First(Fields!fieldname.Value) should work, or you may need
=First(Fields!fieldname.Value, "datasetname") when working with
multiple datasets.|||I know the use of a FIRST and multiple datasets ...my Question is: How to
use a field in Page Header? Reporting Service does not allow to use Fields in
Page Header so, i was wondering if there is any workaround?
"timseal" wrote:
> What is the error message?
> What is the expression you are using that doesn't work?
> =First(Fields!fieldname.Value) should work, or you may need
> =First(Fields!fieldname.Value, "datasetname") when working with
> multiple datasets.
>|||In Bruce's first post, he said you can do this.
If you are having trouble, please be specific. 'Errors out' is not
helpful.|||I had the same problem. Please confirm that the only way to use Fields in the
Page Header is to use an aggregate function. So what you are telling us is
that Reporting Services cannot display a field from a dataset on every page
of the report. Read below.
I am trying to display a calculated field in the Page Header for every page.
I have tried the suggestions written, but the textbox only appears on the
Page Header on the last page of the report.
For example, textbox29 in the body of my report is:
=First(Fields!Next_2_Years.Value, "AnalysisCngEECSalary")
In the Page Header, I just display the textbox:
=ReportItems!textbox29.value
The result only appears on the last page of the report. How can this result
appear on every page of the report? I tried using RepeatWith, but that did
nothing. Please help. Thanks.
--
-RB
:)
"Bruce L-C [MVP]" wrote:
> You can do this but you have to use either an aggrate (sum, count) or first.
>
> --
> Bruce Loehle-Conger
> MVP SQL Server Reporting Services
> "Sirish Saxena" <SirishSaxena@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:6A79C35A-BD05-4E15-B491-938D6BDCD0B0@.microsoft.com...
> >I am New to reporting services and do not know most of it but the first
> > hurdle that i have encountered is of how to use a fields in a
> > header/footer
> > section. the requirement that i have reports forces me to use fields but
> > RS
> > does not allow it.
> > I was wondering if there is any workaround for this limitation
>
>