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Eric J Schubert wrote:

>Data Codification is when a table of "accepted" responses is created and
>given a particular coded value.  A simple example is a US State table  where
>variable in length state names are given two character "codes", such as "IN"
>for Indiana.

<good examples snipped>

>Now it is 1996 and I want to design a two tier RDBMS centered system.

>- Are codification practices of the past era applicable anymore, i.e.,

<more good questions snipped>

As long as there are constraints (not the database kind) placed upon the storage,
transmission, and presentation of information, codification will be desirable.  To use your
state abbreviation example, it is simply more convenient to use the two letter abbreviations than to use the entire state name in many instances.  Data Entry still occurs, and keystrokes are money.  When considering the transmission of the data, we 
still have to contend with low bandwidth mediums where every byte counts.  Many of these concerns have dissipated as technology advances, but just because something "can" be done, doesn't mean that it "should" be done (meant as a technical quotation, 
not a moral one!).

Regards,
Michael L Gueterman
Easy Does It Technologies
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