If data exists in the field print, else don't

[eluser]jedd[/eluser]
[quote author="slowgary" date="1246651257"]Also, I have to disagree with you Jedd on your recommendation of removing prefixes.[/quote]

That's okay .. I know that one day you'll come round to my way of thinking ...

I do try to point out that there are two (or more) approaches to these things, even though I tend to evangelise somewhat.

My suggestion above was primarily to encourage zebeke to pick one approach and stick to it, not mix and match within a database.

Code:

students.student_id
guardians.guardian_phone

Hmm .. are you really advocating plural table names, but singular versions of those table names as the prefix for each column?

I think even with a brain the size of a small planet, I'd have trouble remembering the rules for that taxonomy ...

As far as having a student_phones table, you really only need it if the relationship between students and phones is one to many

I think that was the original problem - there was email1 and email2, and phone1 and phone2 in the early design of the tables - presumably in response to some people wanting two contact methods. I'd understand this, especially with mobile/work/home phone numbers (I wouldn't call them cell numbers (not just because I'm not North American, and I call them mobile phones, not cell phones) but just plain phones). Of course, I don't know the specs - maybe mobile numbers are all they're allowed to store, and/or no one has home or work phone numbers in the USA anymore. It's a weird old place, so anything's possible I guess.

But yes, I'm working on the assumption that one person can have >1 contact number. And I don't care if a contact number happens to get stored in two locations in the phone table (this seems easier than managing a later change of number for someone who shares a phone.id reference to a once-common phone number).