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  3. Naming conventions? We don't need no stinkin' naming conventions (or any convention or even common sense for that matter)!

Naming conventions? We don't need no stinkin' naming conventions (or any convention or even common sense for that matter)!

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Lounge
databasejavascriptcloudcsharpsql-server
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  • M Martin ISDN

    whenever i'm on a project and see a mismatch in the names in the database, the back-end and the front-end i immediately get the urge to kill everyone. > The part before the $ is actually a company name and it turned out this database has the same tables for 23(!) companies, and some other (un?)related tables, giving the database a staggering 41,000+ tables! that's like creating 150+ tables a day for an entire year. part of those tables are created dynamically? abandon project

    Sander RosselS Offline
    Sander RosselS Offline
    Sander Rossel
    wrote on last edited by
    #17

    Martin ISDN wrote:

    that's like creating 150+ tables a day for an entire year. part of those tables are created dynamically?

    I think it's the product of years of development and dynamic table creation, possibly created by a user directly from the product. But I'm not sure.

    Martin ISDN wrote:

    abandon project

    Because I don't like a database I have to access once? Would be very bad for my finances :rolleyes:

    Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

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    • D David ONeil

      I once got to look into the table and variable name structure of BPCS. It, too, was a nightmare, and I can't believe it was a successful commercial venture. It might not have been as bad as the one you looked at. I don't know, because I cussed and closed it as soon as I could! :laugh:

      The Science of King David's Court | Object Oriented Programming with C++

      Sander RosselS Offline
      Sander RosselS Offline
      Sander Rossel
      wrote on last edited by
      #18

      David O'Neil wrote:

      and I can't believe it was a successful commercial venture

      I always wonder about that too. Not because the database is a mess, because users can't care less about that, but because if the database is a mess then it's likely that everything else is a mess too. Maybe it's just this weird naming that's wrong with it, maybe the naming was generated by some tool, but the developers actually know what they're doing? :confused:

      Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

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      • S Super Lloyd

        this madness looks like it could make you indispensable if you raise to the challenge! :laugh:

        A new .NET Serializer All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar Taking over the world since 1371!

        Sander RosselS Offline
        Sander RosselS Offline
        Sander Rossel
        wrote on last edited by
        #19

        No challenges here. Another company owns the database, someone else sometimes works with it. That someone else asked me if I could do him a favor and write that query. Other than that the database is not used anymore and kept around for historical data. I've got other (fun) challenges coming my way :D

        Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

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        • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

          Had to write some query on a SQL Server database today. Opening the database took close to a minute. What I saw then will forever haunt me. Table names like [01 Some Company & Partner l.l.c.$Customer Ledger item], but also [01 Some Company & Partner llc$Cust something else], because sometimes you need Customer while other times you simply need Cust. Each table had columns with names like [Entry No_], [Customer report code 1] and [Amount (CNY)] (CNY apparently means "currency", but with column names like that why even bother to abbreviate?) :sigh: So we've got names with spaces, dots, numbers and symbols, complex enough to pass a password complexity validation! Now there's something particularly odd about the table name... The part before the $ is actually a company name and it turned out this database has the same tables for 23(!) companies, and some other (un?)related tables, giving the database a staggering 41,000+ tables! :wtf: So let me say this again so you can be sure you read it right and I spelled it correctly... OVER FORTY-ONE THOUSAND TABLES! :wtf: It was a bit over 1700 tables per company, which I already think is A LOT, combined in a single database. SQL Server allows for int.MaxValue objects in a single database and I have a feeling this application was pushing the limit (if not, not for lack of trying) :laugh: I'm assuming most of it is generated, but even then, WHY WOULD YOU GENERATE SUCH !G($#&#$(!#F:elephant:J!#(P!? :mad: Sometimes you think you've seen it all and then you run into something like this and realize there really is no limit to human stupidity :sigh:

          Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

          U Offline
          U Offline
          User 13269747
          wrote on last edited by
          #20

          The part before the $ is actually a company name and it turned out this database has the same tables for 23(!) companies, and some other (un?)related tables, giving the database a staggering 41,000+ tables!

          Probably not intended, but this sounds like a great way to be GPDR compliant - each table can have different access controls so that someone who is allowed to view the data for $COMPANY_A will never be allowed to view the data for $COMPANY_B. Unintended consequences, and all that...

          Sander RosselS 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • M Mycroft Holmes

            And I'll bet some company tables are unique so combining them will be a challenge. I made a tidy living in the 90's attempting to normalise such horrors, never quite that big and ugly though. I wonder if the original was converted from MS Access, it is definitely an end user built database. So quote a rate and don't offer a time frame (or even a guarantee) if you are going to try and clean it up. PS CNY is definitely the Chinese currency.

            Never underestimate the power of human stupidity - RAH I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP

            Sander RosselS Offline
            Sander RosselS Offline
            Sander Rossel
            wrote on last edited by
            #21

            Mycroft Holmes wrote:

            And I'll bet some company tables are unique so combining them will be a challenge.

            No doubt, luckily there's no need to combine them :D Hopefully I'll never see this database again :laugh:

            Mycroft Holmes wrote:

            it is definitely an end user built database

            Don't think so, end users here are typically as a-technical as they come. I think a lot of it was generated though. The database is owned by another supplier and kept around for historical purposes, I don't think it's actively being used anymore.

            Mycroft Holmes wrote:

            PS CNY is definitely the Chinese currency.

            Nope, it's short for CurreNcY :laugh: The amount in the column is usually the same as that in the regular amount column, except when the customer is not a Euro country. This supplier doesn't do anything with China specifically.

            Mycroft Holmes wrote:

            So quote a rate and don't offer a time frame (or even a guarantee) if you are going to try and clean it up.

            Already did that years ago for another project, and both my customer and I are still reaping the benefits ;)

            Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

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            • Greg UtasG Greg Utas

              Never used SQL but :laugh: Could CNY be Chinese Yuan? It's the standard forex abbreviation for it.

              Robust Services Core | Software Techniques for Lemmings | Articles
              The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.

              Sander RosselS Offline
              Sander RosselS Offline
              Sander Rossel
              wrote on last edited by
              #22

              Greg Utas wrote:

              Could CNY be Chinese Yuan?

              Nope, it's actually short for CurreNcY. Makes perfect sense if you designed that database I guess :~

              Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

              C 1 Reply Last reply
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              • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                No challenges here. Another company owns the database, someone else sometimes works with it. That someone else asked me if I could do him a favor and write that query. Other than that the database is not used anymore and kept around for historical data. I've got other (fun) challenges coming my way :D

                Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

                S Offline
                S Offline
                Super Lloyd
                wrote on last edited by
                #23

                Ha damn... You still sound like the man of the hour, nay, the man of the year! :D

                A new .NET Serializer All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar Taking over the world since 1371!

                Sander RosselS 1 Reply Last reply
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                • E ElectronProgrammer

                  I'm afraid I have been there, just not with so many tables (maybe 20) nor companies (only 3), and using MySQL. I just made a "SQL template" script and separated the companies into separate databases. Any common change would be made to the template and would be inherited by all (when the script was run against each of the databases). But I guess they have to justify buying new hardware when their queries are not fast enough. Hey, at least those have their queries in the database, right? Right?! In my case they were doing all queries (even simple ones like "select * from tableA where userID=x") in a weird PHP backend because they claimed that "the database is not good enough to filter the tables the way we want it" :wtf: Anyway, I think some whipping is in order. Grab your whip and get the guy that wrote that database. Don't let him procreate more databases like that :mad: :-D

                  Sander RosselS Offline
                  Sander RosselS Offline
                  Sander Rossel
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #24

                  ElectronProgrammer wrote:

                  the guy that wrote that database

                  If it was indeed created by a human and not dynamically created by some program :laugh: Anyway, the person responsible is probably a supplier of a supplier of my customer somewhere in the 80's, but I can't say for sure :laugh:

                  Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

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                  • honey the codewitchH honey the codewitch

                    I apologize. I was in a mood when I generated that. :laugh:

                    Real programmers use butterflies

                    Sander RosselS Offline
                    Sander RosselS Offline
                    Sander Rossel
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #25

                    I must admit I thought of you, but more along the lines of "if honey generated this, it would at least look a lot better X|" And also "she probably already wrote something that could generate exactly this." :D

                    Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

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                    • C charlieg

                      Clearly, I'm going to die working. When I read stuff like this, the inmates are running the asylum.

                      Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

                      Sander RosselS Offline
                      Sander RosselS Offline
                      Sander Rossel
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #26

                      It's always been the inmates! :laugh:

                      Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

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                      • S Super Lloyd

                        Ha damn... You still sound like the man of the hour, nay, the man of the year! :D

                        A new .NET Serializer All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar Taking over the world since 1371!

                        Sander RosselS Offline
                        Sander RosselS Offline
                        Sander Rossel
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #27

                        I am! I solve their problems, better, faster and cheaper than any other supplier they have! :omg:

                        Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

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                        • U User 13269747

                          The part before the $ is actually a company name and it turned out this database has the same tables for 23(!) companies, and some other (un?)related tables, giving the database a staggering 41,000+ tables!

                          Probably not intended, but this sounds like a great way to be GPDR compliant - each table can have different access controls so that someone who is allowed to view the data for $COMPANY_A will never be allowed to view the data for $COMPANY_B. Unintended consequences, and all that...

                          Sander RosselS Offline
                          Sander RosselS Offline
                          Sander Rossel
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #28

                          Yeah, it's probably to keep one company out of the other's data, but giving them separate databases may have been a better option... Also, I'm not sure if GDPR applies to businesses (it's all B2B) ;)

                          Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

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                          • N Nelek

                            Be thankful... it could have been access... or even better, excel tables :laugh: :laugh:

                            M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.

                            Sander RosselS Offline
                            Sander RosselS Offline
                            Sander Rossel
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #29

                            Nelek wrote:

                            or even better, excel tables

                            That's my next project :omg:

                            Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

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                            • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                              Had to write some query on a SQL Server database today. Opening the database took close to a minute. What I saw then will forever haunt me. Table names like [01 Some Company & Partner l.l.c.$Customer Ledger item], but also [01 Some Company & Partner llc$Cust something else], because sometimes you need Customer while other times you simply need Cust. Each table had columns with names like [Entry No_], [Customer report code 1] and [Amount (CNY)] (CNY apparently means "currency", but with column names like that why even bother to abbreviate?) :sigh: So we've got names with spaces, dots, numbers and symbols, complex enough to pass a password complexity validation! Now there's something particularly odd about the table name... The part before the $ is actually a company name and it turned out this database has the same tables for 23(!) companies, and some other (un?)related tables, giving the database a staggering 41,000+ tables! :wtf: So let me say this again so you can be sure you read it right and I spelled it correctly... OVER FORTY-ONE THOUSAND TABLES! :wtf: It was a bit over 1700 tables per company, which I already think is A LOT, combined in a single database. SQL Server allows for int.MaxValue objects in a single database and I have a feeling this application was pushing the limit (if not, not for lack of trying) :laugh: I'm assuming most of it is generated, but even then, WHY WOULD YOU GENERATE SUCH !G($#&#$(!#F:elephant:J!#(P!? :mad: Sometimes you think you've seen it all and then you run into something like this and realize there really is no limit to human stupidity :sigh:

                              Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

                              T Offline
                              T Offline
                              theoldfool
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #30

                              Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. :)

                              If you can keep your head while those about you are losing theirs, perhaps you don't understand the situation.

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                              • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                                Had to write some query on a SQL Server database today. Opening the database took close to a minute. What I saw then will forever haunt me. Table names like [01 Some Company & Partner l.l.c.$Customer Ledger item], but also [01 Some Company & Partner llc$Cust something else], because sometimes you need Customer while other times you simply need Cust. Each table had columns with names like [Entry No_], [Customer report code 1] and [Amount (CNY)] (CNY apparently means "currency", but with column names like that why even bother to abbreviate?) :sigh: So we've got names with spaces, dots, numbers and symbols, complex enough to pass a password complexity validation! Now there's something particularly odd about the table name... The part before the $ is actually a company name and it turned out this database has the same tables for 23(!) companies, and some other (un?)related tables, giving the database a staggering 41,000+ tables! :wtf: So let me say this again so you can be sure you read it right and I spelled it correctly... OVER FORTY-ONE THOUSAND TABLES! :wtf: It was a bit over 1700 tables per company, which I already think is A LOT, combined in a single database. SQL Server allows for int.MaxValue objects in a single database and I have a feeling this application was pushing the limit (if not, not for lack of trying) :laugh: I'm assuming most of it is generated, but even then, WHY WOULD YOU GENERATE SUCH !G($#&#$(!#F:elephant:J!#(P!? :mad: Sometimes you think you've seen it all and then you run into something like this and realize there really is no limit to human stupidity :sigh:

                                Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

                                D Offline
                                D Offline
                                Dan Neely
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #31

                                Because the unsupervised junior devs thought multi-tenant tables were too much work for the prototype, and when it needed to scale out management balked at paying for one database/customer or a major refactor of the tables to do multi-tenant the sane way so the juniors -still without any meaningful supervision - came up with a WTF pattern.

                                Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius

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                                • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                                  Greg Utas wrote:

                                  Could CNY be Chinese Yuan?

                                  Nope, it's actually short for CurreNcY. Makes perfect sense if you designed that database I guess :~

                                  Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

                                  C Offline
                                  C Offline
                                  charlieg
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #32

                                  Death to abbreviations. Just die! Also, fix your elephanting spelling errors.

                                  Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

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                                  • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                                    Had to write some query on a SQL Server database today. Opening the database took close to a minute. What I saw then will forever haunt me. Table names like [01 Some Company & Partner l.l.c.$Customer Ledger item], but also [01 Some Company & Partner llc$Cust something else], because sometimes you need Customer while other times you simply need Cust. Each table had columns with names like [Entry No_], [Customer report code 1] and [Amount (CNY)] (CNY apparently means "currency", but with column names like that why even bother to abbreviate?) :sigh: So we've got names with spaces, dots, numbers and symbols, complex enough to pass a password complexity validation! Now there's something particularly odd about the table name... The part before the $ is actually a company name and it turned out this database has the same tables for 23(!) companies, and some other (un?)related tables, giving the database a staggering 41,000+ tables! :wtf: So let me say this again so you can be sure you read it right and I spelled it correctly... OVER FORTY-ONE THOUSAND TABLES! :wtf: It was a bit over 1700 tables per company, which I already think is A LOT, combined in a single database. SQL Server allows for int.MaxValue objects in a single database and I have a feeling this application was pushing the limit (if not, not for lack of trying) :laugh: I'm assuming most of it is generated, but even then, WHY WOULD YOU GENERATE SUCH !G($#&#$(!#F:elephant:J!#(P!? :mad: Sometimes you think you've seen it all and then you run into something like this and realize there really is no limit to human stupidity :sigh:

                                    Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

                                    D Offline
                                    D Offline
                                    dandy72
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #33

                                    Sander Rossel wrote:

                                    a staggering 41,000+ tables

                                    Why go deep, when you can go wide? If each company has its own set of tables dedicated to it, think of how much faster queries are gonna run than if all the data for all companies was combined... I'm sure that was the line of reasoning...

                                    1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                                      Had to write some query on a SQL Server database today. Opening the database took close to a minute. What I saw then will forever haunt me. Table names like [01 Some Company & Partner l.l.c.$Customer Ledger item], but also [01 Some Company & Partner llc$Cust something else], because sometimes you need Customer while other times you simply need Cust. Each table had columns with names like [Entry No_], [Customer report code 1] and [Amount (CNY)] (CNY apparently means "currency", but with column names like that why even bother to abbreviate?) :sigh: So we've got names with spaces, dots, numbers and symbols, complex enough to pass a password complexity validation! Now there's something particularly odd about the table name... The part before the $ is actually a company name and it turned out this database has the same tables for 23(!) companies, and some other (un?)related tables, giving the database a staggering 41,000+ tables! :wtf: So let me say this again so you can be sure you read it right and I spelled it correctly... OVER FORTY-ONE THOUSAND TABLES! :wtf: It was a bit over 1700 tables per company, which I already think is A LOT, combined in a single database. SQL Server allows for int.MaxValue objects in a single database and I have a feeling this application was pushing the limit (if not, not for lack of trying) :laugh: I'm assuming most of it is generated, but even then, WHY WOULD YOU GENERATE SUCH !G($#&#$(!#F:elephant:J!#(P!? :mad: Sometimes you think you've seen it all and then you run into something like this and realize there really is no limit to human stupidity :sigh:

                                      Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

                                      S Offline
                                      S Offline
                                      Steve Naidamast
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #34

                                      Though attributed to Albert Einstein, there is no evidence that he actually said the following... The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits... :laugh:

                                      Steve Naidamast Sr. Software Engineer Black Falcon Software, Inc. blackfalconsoftware@outlook.com

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                                      • C charlieg

                                        Clearly, I'm going to die working. When I read stuff like this, the inmates are running the asylum.

                                        Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

                                        M Offline
                                        M Offline
                                        Matt McGuire
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #35

                                        I have that book the inmates are running the asylum it's an interesting read, especially 22 years after it was written. things haven't changed much.

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