Parts catalog database design problem (newbie)

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May 15th, 2003, 10:07 AM

peterg22

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Parts catalog database design problem (newbie)

Dear All,

Please bear in mind that I'm a newbie at setting up this type of DB..

I'm considering setting up a database of finished products, each one of which can contain a varying number of components. What I want to be able to do is to initially interrogate the database by product name, and then get a list of components that the product contains. This will eventually lead on to stock levels, etc.

So,

Widget 1 made from Parts A, B, C
Widget 2 made from Parts B, C, F, G, J

etc..

Should I create a table that contains the widget name followed by as many columns as parts - in which case I'd perhaps have to create 255 columns Part[0] .. Part[254] the majority of which may be null or empty unless the widget in question has a lot of parts..

Does that make sense ? If anyone has made a DB like this I'd be grateful for an insight into how it is done.

TIA !

May 15th, 2003, 11:22 AM

jharnois

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Use three tables: one for widgets, one for parts, and a reference table (I think there's a proper name here, but whatever).

Code:

table.widgets
id
field1
field2

table.parts
id
field1
field2

table.widget_parts
widgets.id
parts.id

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