Geographical / political structures

[vineld]

How do you usually solve the question of organizing geographical and political structures in a database? For example states, counties, cities etc. In many cases people put everything in one single table, using the parent-child model, and in other cases they are stored in separate tables. I have used both alternatives myself depending on the situation given but I would like to hear what you all have to say on pros and cons of the two solutions.

[abazoskib]

if i was going to make a geographical db i would definitely use separate tables for states, counties, and cities. many many reasons but organization alone is enough for me to do that. i couldnt even imagine one table for everything.

 

your statement though does not make sense, as the parent/child model does not involve one table for everything.

[vineld]

Most of the time I use separate tables as well, especially when there is some information that is specific to one of the structures. However, it is possible to implement the parent-child model with just one table.

[Daniel0]

as the parent/child model does not involve one table for everything.

 

Any 1:1 or 1:n relationship will need two tables unless the relationship is self-referential.