Design problem

[dmcintyre]

I have to design a database that will allow multiple search criteria
as below.

Name
Region
Skill_1
Skill_2
Etc
Now for the hard part, of the 300 or so names, 20 regions and dozen
skill types, I want to return as an answer from a query the top X percent
closest to the client request.
To explain further, I may have 2 names with the right region and all
skill sets and 2 with the right skills but not in the selected region.

The end result will allow the database user to find the most suitably
qualified available person even though all skills may not be available
(closest match to ideal)

Thanks in advance, Don

 

[R. Hicks]

You first need to normalize your database ...
You have what is known as "repeating groups" ... (Skill_1, Skill_2).

The skill information should be a seperate child table linked to th
parent table with a "one to many" relational join.
One person can have many skills.

Once this problem has been addressed .. it will be easy to get you
desired results.

RD