Why does the Data Dictionary not make any attempt to capture the multiple meanings of a single column in my database or file format?
Although it is theoritically possible to document when a specific column of a database is used for multiple purposes and takes on multiple semantics, in practice it is excedingly difficult to maintain. When a new funtion is added to an application a single programmer can add a small section of code to store data in a column that has meaning only to that single section of code. This means that the Data Dictionary must now be part of all of the application development coding and documentation processes. This starts to take the place of good data practices. Many times a single hour saved by a progammer putting to different data elements in a single database column of data results in hundreds of hours of additional work by report writers working with incomplete documentation trying to filter out the data into seperate fields.
Related Questions
- Does the system provide a database to allow the user to uniquely identify each Debtor and capture data on the debtor?
- Can I capture events from the database (for example, alarms and data change) from an event structure?
- Can a transparent table exist in data dictionary but not in the database physically?
