>Do you mean code as in encryption or as in foreign key lookup tables? If the former, then using a table to decrypt mediated at the middle-tier is OK. If we're talking relational keys, then that info could be exposed to the business tier as views or parameterized views with the business object(s) passing on the parameter.

I mean foreign key (FK) lookup tables. In the current desktop system, there are many of these codes (FK), but there are no lookup tables for them. They are hard coded through out the desktop app. I did not know if I should create lookup tables or have methods in the middle tier to decode these FK's with a DO CASE. It seems like the lookup table approach is the best. Do you concur?

I am using parameterized views in my DBC so I do not have to expose or hardcode the SQL to middle tier. So if I use lookup tables, should I return the decoded value to the FK with my view, or should I call a separate view to return the decoded value given a FK? I would think it would be faster to the former. Well, what do you think?