Lookup table explained

Lookup table explained

What is the meaning of a lookup table, from an Oracle point of view?

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What other point of view would there be? :)

Anyway, I'd call a lookup table any table that was created to hold mostly static data and is used to assist in normalizing your database design. For instance, if I create a state_lookup table that contains two columns: state_code and state_name. I now have the ability to store the state_code in any other table I want and retrieve the state_name from the "lookup" table as needed (via a join).

I don't think there's an "Oracle definition" of lookup table in particular. The concept of a lookup table is more a design/programming term than something that is a vendor specific term.

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This was first published in April 2003

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