Thread: CHECK vs BEFORE trigger

Hi All,

I am about to create a new table that will store among other things two
dimensions.  The user requires that the smaller of the two dimesions always be
referred to as the width.

As I see it I can either implement a CHECK constraint and handle the error or
implement a BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE trigger that checks the two values and
switches them if necessary.

If I implement the trigger is there any point in implementing the CHECK?

In this simple situation is there any reason to implement the CHECK and not
use a trigger?

Your comments will be appreciated.

Kind Regards,
Keith

Keith....

> I am about to create a new table that will store among other things two
> dimensions.  The user requires that the smaller of the two dimesions always be
> referred to as the width.
>
> As I see it I can either implement a CHECK constraint and handle the error or
> implement a BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE trigger that checks the two values and
> switches them if necessary.

I like your trigger solution.  The CHECK would then be redundant and not
neccessary.

However, the CHECK with an error message might be a good solution if you
think the user has his data mixed up beyond just swapping the length and
width, maybe he jumped to the next row on one dimension and is about to
enter a fictitious situation and an error message might warn him so he
could correct the data.

I think it depends on your user situation and what possible mistakes they
might make.

brew

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