>I am getting tired of adding phone # fields to various tables as users come up with new requirements. I am thinking of creating a phone # class for the whole application. The functionality would be like the phone # fields in Outlook Contacts. I would have one table for all phone #'s. There would be a phone type table that described the type of # (home, work, fax, etc.), the parent table for the type, and sort order for displaying the types. The phone # table would contain the #, the PK of the type record and the PK of the record in the parent table. The class would consist of a textbox for the # & a dropdown list for the type. It could be dropped on a form as many times as needed.
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>If a user wanted a new phone # type, I could just add a record to the type table and it would be instantly available.
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>Has anyone done anything like this? Is this overkill? Am I crazy?
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>John

John;

In November of 1995, Savannah Brentnall was one of the instructors for the Flash Road Show (Codebook). We spend two days discussing OOP and one day of practical experience working in teams of five persons. We came up with a “phone” class, which was sub classed many times for specific purposes. 800 numbers, business (1-XXX-XXXX-XXXX [extension]), and everything under the sun was used. My point is that when you conceive of something worthy of sub classing, then by all means do it. You can then use it in any application where such functionality is required.

Give your idea a go and see what you think. By combining OOP and table driven development you have a great deal of power.


Tom