Naming data elements

Some of the data elements your application uses might already exist and be named. After you have listed the data elements, find out if any of them exist by checking with your database administrator (DBA).

Before you begin naming data elements, be aware of the naming standards that you are subject to. When you name data elements, use the most descriptive names possible. Remember that, because other applications probably use at least some of the same data, the names should mean the same thing to everyone. Try not to limit the name's meaning only to your application.

One of the problems with using local names is that you can develop synonyms, two names for the same data element.

For example, in the current roster example, suppose the student's company was referred to simply as company instead of customer. But suppose the accounting department for the education company used the same piece of data in a billing application—the name of the student's company—and referred to it as customer. This would mean that two business processes were using two different names for the same piece of data. At worst, this could lead to redundant data if no one realized that customer and company contained the same data. To solve this, use a global name that is recognized by both departments using this data element. In this case, customer is more easily recognized and the better choice. This name uniquely identifies the data element and has a specific meaning within the education company.

When you choose data element names, use qualifiers so that each name can mean only one thing.

For example, suppose Headquarters, for each course that is taught, assigns a number to the course as it is developed and calls this number the sequence number. The Ed Centers, as they receive student enrollments for a particular class, assign a number to each student as a means of identification within the class. The Ed Centers call this number the sequence number. Thus Headquarters and the Ed Centers are using the same name for two separate data elements. This is called a homonym. You can solve the homonym problem by qualifying the names. The number that Headquarters assigns to each course can be called course code (CRSCODE), and the number that the Ed Centers assign to their students can be called student sequence number (STUSEQ#).

Homonym

One word for two different things.