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POCreate a view based on column metadata
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Let's assume two tables: TableA holds various data measurements from a variety of stations. TableB holds metadata, about the columns used in TableA. TableA has: <pre><code>stationID int not null, pk entryDate datetime not null, pk waterTemp float null, waterLevel float null ...etc </code></pre> TableB has: <pre><code>id int not null, pk, autoincrement colname varchar(50), unit varchar(50) ....etc </code></pre> So for example, one line of data from tableA reads: <pre><code>1 | 2013-01-01 00:00 | 2.4 | 3.5 </code></pre> two lines from tableB read: <pre><code>1| waterTemp | celcius 2| waterLevel | meters </code></pre> This is a simplified example. In truth, tableA might hold close to 20 different data columns, and table b has close to 10 metadata columns. I am trying to design a view which will output the results like this: <pre><code>StationID | entryDate | water temperature | water level | 1 | 2013-01-01 00:00 | 2.4 celcius | 3.5 meters | </code></pre> So two questions: <ol> <li>Other than specifying subselects from TableB (..."where colname='XXX'") for each column, which seems horribly insufficient (not to mention...manual :P ), is there a way to get the result I mentioned earlier with automatic match on colname? </li> <li>I have a hunch that this might be bad design on the database. Is it so? If yes, what would be a more optimal design? (Bear in mind the complexity of the data structure I mentioned earlier)</li> </ol>
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<sql><sql-server-2008><metadata>
Title
Create a view based on column metadata
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