Time/Date stamp Location

[Western_Neil]

Hello



I have two questions about dates;

A organization can change its name and location many times over a long period of time. If I’m using tables like these for both name and location:
tOrg .......... tOrgxName ........ tName
OrgID ........ OrgxNameID ..... NameID
................. OrgID ................ Name
................. NameID

Where should the date field go tName or tOrgxName? The cross table makes sense for location as many different organizations can be in 1 place. The name table makes sense in that the data group is only in 1 spot.

Any and all thoughts are welcomed.

The second question is posted on a different thread.

Thanks Neil

[RuralGuy]

What will the date indicate?

[Western_Neil]

The date would indicate when the organization change its name or location

[RuralGuy]

If the value is important then put it in the table that contains the value that changed. Put it in two tables if you have separated the data.

[orange]

Neil,

There may be more to your question than you have stated. Here are some thoughts, but whether they apply to your situation or not can only be determined by you.
Companies often have many names:
-Legal name
-Operating name
-Alias name

And some of these names can be changed by:
-Takeover/ new management
-Merger
-Sale
-No longer in business

The structure of your tables, and relationships really depend on the things and events that have meaning/importance to you.

Here's more info on ownership from Reporter Committee for Freedom of the Press.

In practice, companies are frequently owned by other companies. Intertwined ownership structures can make it difficult to understand how a company operates, what parts of it are regulated by which government entities, and what part may be of particular interest in a news story. There are parent companies, holding companies, and shell companies, to name a few.
Parent companies are those that own enough stock in another company (called a subsidiary) to control it.


A holding company is a corporation that owns stock in other companies. A pure holding company is established only to hold shares in other companies. A large holding company can control many individual companies. For example, Sears Holdings Corp. has among its subsidiaries Kmart Corp., Lands’ End, Inc. and Sears, Roebuck and Co.


A shell company is a business entity that is not actively engaged in business and has no or few assets. Although some have been abused in money laundering and tax avoidance schemes, shell companies have legitimate uses. For example, publicly traded shell companies are used in reverse mergers, when a private company buys the shell, allowing it to be traded on the market without going through the required initial public offering.

[Western_Neil]

Thanks Rural Guy

I take what you say to mean keep the data group together. I also extended that thought out to mean for locations it will require another cross table between Location and OrganizationLocation with the later having the date value.

Neil

[Western_Neil]

Thanks Orange

Yes there is a lot more then what is stated. I was trying to figure out where the date went. Rural Guys' answer seems to hold water and I will go with that.

With the answer to the other question it looking I now have a third which I will open a new thread for.

Neil