# Collection\_select question **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [June 14, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/collection-select-question/190087 "2010-06-14T16:18:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bw2010](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@bw2010](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bw2010)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/collection-select-question/190087/1 "2010-06-14T16:18:17Z")
Hello! New to ruby on rails, so I hope this isn’t a stupid question (great way to start a post ;)). Basically I’m trying to avoid making a bunch of different columns in my db table by having my collection\_select concatenate the ID value it returns to a single text field (for instance, the collection\_select will return a footnote ID, and I would like to keep it in a job column called footnote) with comma’s in between because each job has multiple footnotes. Is there any way I can accomplish this ? Ideally I would like to put comma’s in between so I can break it apart in another area of my program. Thank you for any help. ---
**Author:** ![bw2010](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@bw2010](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bw2010)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/collection-select-question/190087/2 "2010-06-14T21:31:05Z")
Bee Dubya wrote: > Hello! > > New to ruby on rails, so I hope this isn’t a stupid question (great way > to start a post ;)). Basically I’m trying to avoid making a bunch of > different columns in my db table by having my collection\_select > concatenate the ID value it returns to a single text field (for > instance, the collection\_select will return a footnote ID, and I would > like to keep it in a job column called footnote) with comma’s in between > because each job has multiple footnotes. DO NOT DO THAT. You need two tables with a has\_many/belongs\_to relationship. You should never ever put multiple values in one field. > Is there any way I can accomplish this ? Ideally I would like to put > comma’s in between so I can break it apart in another area of my > program. Don’t. Read up on proper database normalization, and do it right. > Thank you for any help. ## Best, Marnen Laibow-Koser [http://www.marnen.org](http://www.marnen.org) removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid ---
**Author:** ![bw2010](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@bw2010](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bw2010)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 10:38am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/collection-select-question/190087/3 "2010-06-16T10:38:09Z")
Marnen Laibow-Koser wrote: > Bee Dubya wrote: > > > Hello! > > > > New to ruby on rails, so I hope this isn’t a stupid question (great way > > to start a post ;)). Basically I’m trying to avoid making a bunch of > > different columns in my db table by having my collection\_select > > concatenate the ID value it returns to a single text field (for > > instance, the collection\_select will return a footnote ID, and I would > > like to keep it in a job column called footnote) with comma’s in between > > because each job has multiple footnotes. > > DO NOT DO THAT. You need two tables with a has\_many/belongs\_to > relationship. You should never ever put multiple values in one field. > > > Is there any way I can accomplish this ? Ideally I would like to put > > comma’s in between so I can break it apart in another area of my > > program. > > Don’t. Read up on proper database normalization, and do it right. > > > Thank you for any help. > > ## Best, > > Marnen Laibow-Koser > [http://www.marnen.org](http://www.marnen.org) > removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid In connection with this, and at the risk of reviving a dead thread: a big part of database normalisation is atomising your data. This enables you to better acclimate your application to future alterations and more effective database requests. Searching is a good example of this - I am simply reinforcing Marnen’s point regarding database normalisation.