Hi,

I am new to Databases and I am currently designing a database that stores information relating to users.

In this application that I am developing at the time of registration the user is asked to enter a username and password that are being stored in a 'userinfo' datatable. Now after registering the user is given the option of storing multiple profiles under his/her login. Now my question is: Is it a good practice to have different tables for different users with each table storing profile information for a particular user or should all the profiles of all the users be stored in just one table. I would really appreciate it if anyone can let me know how to proceed.

Thanks in advance.
Qadeer.

I would put all the users in the same table, I think (not sure) that it would save space.

HTH,

Snib

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For normalization practices, you should put all profiles for a specific user id in a separate table called "Profile".

For instance:

User:
UserID - PK
UserName

Profile:
ProfileID - PK
ProfileName
UserID - FK

With the setup above, you allow for data to be consistent and not redundant. If you put all possible profile options into one table, you are going to end up with one table that has multiple fields that may or may not be used - this will just take up space. If you create both tables separately, you can easily query them to find all profiles for an individual user.


Beau Frusetta
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When you say, "different tables for different users", A table as such called a DOMAIN, a pool of values that are similar in function, so storing profiles/users information in different tables for each user is not a good practice.

Imagine if there are going to be 1000 users in your system, then you would face problem in finiding a relevant name for it. Would you go for creating different tables for different users? if the user count still grows, you got to keep creating tables for them, which is not recommended in anyway.

I would strongly suggest you to stick with "bizzeau's" recommendation.

Cheers!

-Vijay G

Thank you guys. I think I will follow bizzeau's recommendation.

Qadeer.