Field Names

Here are field names from Win2000 Find Users, Contacts, and Groups. [Text in brackets present issues such as different text on GUI screen labels]

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Table and Column Naming Conventions

Tables are named with the first letter capitalized, and in the plural.
Localities, Statuses, ParticipationTypes, etc.

Column names begin with the table name in singular. For example:
locality_id, status_code, etc.

Content Fields

The content of most interest within tablas are "content" columns:

Column Name	Size	Description
... _code	VARCHAR(16)	The code column usually contains no diacritics (non-English) font characters such as the eszett in German.
... _abbr	VARCHAR(16)	The abbreviates the name to fit within report column headings.
... _short_name	VARCHAR(32)	This is the text humans use to refer to a specific item, for use generally in pick lists.
... _full_name	VARCHAR(128)	This is the text humans use to refer to a specific item.
... _sort_name	VARCHAR(128)	Used for sorting by gazetteer sequence, with font substitution done according to a character mapping table specific to a Region's Font Code.
... _abbr	VARCHAR(16)	The abbreviates the name to fit within report column headings and short pick lists.
... _desc	VARCHAR	Descriptions are usually longer explanations of the name. Exceptions are housed in the description field.
... _note	VARCHAR	Notes on exceptions are noted in this field.

It is best not to name fields "identifier" or "Id" but reserve it for computer-generated keys usually not shown to users. These are usually of numeric integer format.

These fields are usually preented on input forms for users to supply values.

Change History Fields

Each row contains several fields to track when content values where last changed. These columns are always determined by the system and not among input fields presented to any user.

Every method which modifies the row should update this value.

Column Name	Format	Description
..._change_datetime	DATETIME	Every method which modifies the row should update this value.
..._change_by	VARCHAR ?	The id of the user requesting the change.
..._change_ip	VARCHAR ?	The IP address of the client, as obtained from the server, when the row was created. This may be the ip of the corportate proxy server if the user is behind a firewall. my notes on IP addresses

Some tables have a set of create and change columns.

Status Values and the Status Type Table

Most data tables have a status column.

The Status Type table provides a name and description:

Code	Name	Description
A or (blank)	Active	This is the default, normal status. Queries for presentation to users SHOULD retrieve rows with this value. New data SHOULD be created with this status by default.
I	Inactive	Existing rows marked with this status MAY become active later, as designated by users. Queries for presentation to users MAY retrieve rows with this value, at user discretion. New data MAY be created with with this status.
H	Hidden	Rows marked with this status are visible only to admins during background processing. Queries for presentation to users SHOULD NOT retrieve rows with this value. New data MAY be created with this status, but only by admins.
B	Banned	Rows marked with this status are visible to admins during data management background processing. Queries for presentation to users MAY be retrieve rows with this value only when specifically requested. New data MAY NOT be created with this status, but only by admins.
O	Obsoleted	Existing rows marked with this status MAY be deleted. Queries for presentation to users MAY retrieve rows with this value only for historical analysis. New data SHOULD NOT be created with this status.
D	Deleted Deprecated	Rows marked with this status are not shown WILL be physically removed very soon. Queries for presentation to users SHOULD NOT retrieve rows with this value. New data SHOULD NOT be created with rows marked with this status. This word is used instead of the word "deleted", which refers to internal database mechanisms. Deprecated refers to a a logical delete.

Names with a status other than Active should be displayed after being appended with "(obsolete)".

For a demonstration of this, see the Countries and Currencies table.

Progamming code to test for values within this column should look for one character among many rather than assuming that the column only contains single-character values.

Effectivity Dates

These fields are for date-sensitive data (which many are). "Effective" is defined by the application's business rules. For example, Content management systems define effective as the period when the row is visible to users.

Column Name	Format	Description
..._eff_from_datetime	DATETIME	The date and time the row is effective.
..._eff_to_datetime	DATETIME	The date and time the row in no longer effective.

Items accessed before the from date are Pending.
Items accessed after the to date are Expired.

An application's business rules define whether dates within a row are subordinate to status flags (they usually are).

Address Column Field Names

The table below lists fields in the Microsoft Active Directory used by Win2000 Find Users, Contacts, and Groups. It is (will be) compared against the names of fields in LDAP and other address database.

[Text in brackets present issues such as different text on GUI screen labels]

Category	Microsoft		Notes/Domino		LDAP
	Users	Groups	Users	Groups	Users	Groups
Organization:
	Company
	Division
	Department
	Job Title
	Title
	Manager
	Assistant
Direct Reports
Individual:
	First Name		FirstName
	Middle Name
	Last Name		LastName
	Generational Suffix
	Initials
	Employee ID		ShortName
	Display Name		n/a	ListName
	Name [Full name]	also	FullName
	X500 Distinguished Name	also
	Logon Name [User Logon Name]
Logon Name (pre-Windows 2000)
Contact Information:
	E-Mail Address		MailAddress
	E-Mail Address (other)		InternetAddress
	Fax Number (other)
	Fax Number
	Home Phone
	Home Phone (Others)
	International ISDN Number
	International ISDN Number (Others)
	IP Phone Number (Others)
	IP Phone Number
	Mobile Number
	Mobile Number (Others)
	Pager Number
	Pager Number (Others)
	Telex Number
Telex Number (Other)
Physical locations:
	Office Location	also
	Logon Workstations
	Street Address
	Post Office Box
	State/Province
	City	also
	Country
	Country Abbreviation	also
	Zip/Postal Code
	Home Address [includes City, State, etc.]
	Home Drive
	Home Folder
	Web Page Address	also
Web Page Address (Others)	also
Additional:
	Comment
Notes	also
Group:	Group Membership [under Users!]	n/a
	n/a	Description
	n/a	Group Name (pre-Windows 2000)
	n/a	Managed By

In the US are two offical sources of place names:

• The Geographic Names Information Service (GNIS) maintained by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:nnnnnnn returns latitude and longitude points.
• The US Postal Service (USPS) maintains names and zip codes solely for the purpose of delivering mail. ZIP Code boundaries do not indicate the legal “footprint” of a named community.

Place names that the US uses for places outside the US are maintained by NGA GEOnet Names Server (GNS) holding a database containing this format and accessible publicly from this Geonames Search Page.

The Alexandria Digital Library (ADL) Gazetteer Server (at UCSD) retrieves place and facility locations within a specified area of interest specified on a map (generated by ESRI).

Region names such as "Midwest" are not official designations.

Exonym names are used in a specific language for a geographical feature situated outside the area where that language has official status, and differing in its form from the name used in the official language or languages of the area where the geographical feature is situated.

Endonym names of a geographical feature in one of the languages occurring in that area where the feature is situated.

According to US Procedures for General Toponymic Analysis, the English name for Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen are transliterated using the BGN/PCGN 1956 Arabic Transliteration System. fuzzy matching works from provided vowels and a nine-level matching quality specification. CIA incubator InQTel provides US-GNS fuzzy searching in four additional languages: Korean, Persian, Pushto, and Urdu.

ISO 3166 Alpha 2 codes with English names and French names

Some state codes in Australia are supposed to contain spaces.