How do you handle descriptive database table names and their effect on foreign key names?
- by Carvell Fenton
Hello,
I am working on a database schema, and am trying to make some decisions about table names. I like at least somewhat descriptive names, but then when I use suggested foreign key naming conventions, the result seems to get ridiculous. Consider this example:
Suppose I have table
session_subject_mark_item_info
And it has a foreign key that references
sessionSubjectID
in the
session_subjects
table.
Now when I create the foreign key name based on fk_[referencing_table]__[referenced_table]_[field_name] I end up with this maddness:
fk_session_subject_mark_item_info__session_subjects_sessionSubjectID
Would this type of a foreign key name cause me problems down the road, or is it quite common to see this?
Also, how do the more experienced database designers out there handle the conflict between descriptive naming for readability vs. the long names that result?
I am using MySQL and MySQL Workbench if that makes any difference.
Thanks!
