Designing Tables

The topics in this section provide information to help you design effective tables.

In This Section

Topic Description

Table Planning Guidelines

Introduces the main tasks in designing a table.

Assigning a Data Type to a Column

Explains the data types available in SQL Server 2005.These include system-supplied data types, user-defined alias data types, and Microsoft .NET Framework common language runtime (CLR) user-defined types.

Autonumbering and Identifier Columns

Explains the concept of creating system-generated table values that are unique to a table or a computer network.

Enforcing Data Integrity

Provides guidelines for designing PRIMARY KEY, FOREIGN KEY, UNIQUE, and CHECK constraints; designing defaults; and specifying nullability in table definitions.