[TYPO3-mvc] Replacing/exchanging a field if a specific extension is loaded

[Thomas "Thasmo" Deinhamer]

Hello folks,

what's the usual way of swapping a TCA field
to a more advanced field, if a specific extension is loaded?

Imagine there's a TCA field 'author varchar(255)' where someone could 
enter the author's name. But now if e.g. tt_address is installed, it 
would be cooler to have a 'select' field to choose an address/contact from.

How could I solve this the best way?

The main concern I have, is about the SQL definition and the naming of 
the field. Should I call the field 'author_name' if the extension is not 
installed and call it 'author' if it IS installed?

Are there any best practices?

Thanks a lot,
Thomas