Newsgroups: bit.listserv.dasig
Date:         Tue, 18 Aug 1992 20:19:54 EDT
From:         USERCASS@UMICHUM.BITNET
Subject:      Name and Address Data Models

Hello from the University of Michigan.

We are in the process of developing a data model for a person's name and a
person's address.  We have found this to be a very complex question and are
wondering how other universities and corporations are handling it.  If you
have any experiences or ideas to share, please reply on the listserv or
contact me directly.

The difficulty we are facing is in deciding between logic and simplicity.
We can follow our modeling methodology and create a fully normalized model,
but we feel that it is too complicated for many users and developers to
understand.  Below are the components of name and address that we have
identified to date.  We are still learning of the aspects of many foreign
names and addresses, so our list may not yet be complete.

Components of Name:
First Name      usually only one per person, but could be a compound name.
                May just be one letter.  Examples: Mary Ann, Marianne, Mark,
                Gerda, Hirofumi, S
Middle Name     person might not have one, or could have multiple, and
                order is important.  May be just an initial. Examples:
                Marlene, Arthur, D.
Last Name       person could have multiple, some which replace others.  For
                example, a married name and a maiden name, or a hyphenated
                name, or a compound name in which spaces are important.
                Examples: van der Pool, Garcia de Martinez, Jones, Smith,
                Jones-Smith.
Suffix          person could have multiple. Examples: Jr.,
                Sr., III. Prefixes/Titles some people have these. Examples:
                Prince, Senator, Lord

Components of Address:
Address Type    A person can have multiple addresses, and each could be
                identified by a type code. Examples: Permanent, Local,
                Campus, Billing
Street          This is a line that could contain a street address,
                apartment number, suite number, department name, or any
                other information that is not easily categorized
                (especially for foreign addresses). Multiple lines are
                often needed. Examples: 21730 Maplewood, Suite 603,
                Computing Services, c/o Trudeau.
City            Examples: Tokyo, Detroit, Los Angeles
State Code      Only one of these per address.  Examples:  MI, FL, AZ
Zip Code        For domestic addresses only.  Can be in 5 digit or 9 digit
                format. Examples: 90054, 48034, 78922-1234
Postal Code     Used to identify  some foreign cities.  Examples: Country
                Examples: USA, Canada, France
Do not publish  Flag to designate that this address should not be published
Attn. Line      Example:  ATTN John Smith


Again, if you have any experiences or ideas to share, please reply on the
listserv or contact me directly.

________________________________________________________________________

Dave McLaughlin
Senior Data Analyst
Data Administration/University Information Systems
University of Michigan
201 E. Hoover
Ann Arbor, MI  48104-3799
(313) 747-3150
Bitnet address:  UserHDHF@UMICHUM
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU