| Goal | Find non-key base table columns with the same name and type that have in some cases a default value and some cases not. Be consistent. Columns with the same name and type should probably either always have a default value in case of different tables or never have a default value in case of different tables. "If you do something a certain way, do all similar things in the same way." (Robert C. Martin, Clean Code) |
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| Notes | In case of the string_agg function, the line break (br) tag is used as a part of the separator for the better readability in case the query result is displayed in a web browser. |
| Type | Problem detection Each row in the result could represent a flaw in the design |
| Reliability | Medium Medium number of false-positive results |
| License | MIT (opens in new tab) |
| Fixing Suggestion | Add or remove default values to/from the columns. |
| Data Source | INFORMATION_SCHEMA+system catalog |
| SQL Query |
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Collections
This query belongs to the following collections:
Find problems about base tables
A selection of queries that return information about the data types, field sizes, default values as well as general structure of base tables. Contains all the types of queries - problem detection, software measure, and general overview
Find problems automatically
Queries, that results point to problems in the database. Each query in the collection produces an initial assessment. However, a human reviewer has the final say as to whether there is a problem or not .
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Find problems about base tables | A selection of queries that return information about the data types, field sizes, default values as well as general structure of base tables. Contains all the types of queries - problem detection, software measure, and general overview |
| Find problems automatically | Queries, that results point to problems in the database. Each query in the collection produces an initial assessment. However, a human reviewer has the final say as to whether there is a problem or not . |
Categories
This query is classified under the following categories:
Default value
Queries of this catergory provide information about the use of default values.
Inconsistencies
Queries of this catergory provide information about inconsistencies of solving the same problem in different places.
Validity and completeness
Queries of this category provide information about whether database design represents the world (domain) correctly (validity) and whether database design captures all the information about the world (domain) that is correct and relevant (completeness).
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Default value | Queries of this catergory provide information about the use of default values. |
| Inconsistencies | Queries of this catergory provide information about inconsistencies of solving the same problem in different places. |
| Validity and completeness | Queries of this category provide information about whether database design represents the world (domain) correctly (validity) and whether database design captures all the information about the world (domain) that is correct and relevant (completeness). |
Further reading and related materials:
| Reference |
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| The corresponding code smell in case of cleaning code is "G11: Inconsistency". (Robert C. Martin, Clean Code) |
| Smell "Overloaded attribute names": Sharma, T., Fragkoulis, M., Rizou, S., Bruntink, M. and Spinellis, D.: Smelly relations: measuring and understanding database schema quality. In: Proceedings of the 40th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Practice, pp. 55-64. ACM, (2018). |