I’m a very beginner with SQL and database and I received a task to completely rebuild a project monitoring application we have here. The problem is, I only have access to the database (MS Access) cause the app itself was coded in Delphi and I don’t have the sources. Anyway, I check the Access database and choose to export it to SQL for a better performance and security but the way the DB was made… I’m not really sure it was the best way.

A little example:

column name        data type
ID_Project          int
electro             nvarchar(255)
Structures          nvarchar(255)
Collaborater        nvarchar(255)
Verifier            nvarchar(255)

and so on… where the electro, structure, etc. is the name of the person in the department assigned to the project.

My question is, can I keep it like that or try something to update it for better performance. (the old app is slow) I check a few things on the net and on another DB but i’m not really sure. I was thinking doing a table for just the affectation for the project like that:

column name     data type
IDE_Project     int
IDE_Employee    int
IDE_Department  int

with indexes and keys.

Is it a good start or am I doing all wrong?

I’m sorry for the vague question but I really don’t know how to correctly write it.

Thank you.