Bob,
You might want to look at doing all of this in a single table and
having a field where you select the equipment type such as: computer,
printer, scanner, display. This will allow you to search a single
field for your serial number.
This design will allow you to track any equipment type without having
to create separate tables for each one and will also make it easier
for reporting as you can quickly find a computer and all of its
peripherals or find all of the equipment in a specific location.
You can still see what equipment is attached to a computer by
creating a self join relationship.
Steve
On Feb 9, 2007, at 12:30 PM, Robert Sandkam wrote:
Simple question from someone trying to grow their single-table
database into a multiple-table database.
I am building an inventory database.
It seems to me that I will create the following:
computer table
display table
scanner table
printer table
and so on…
Eventually I will create relationships between these tables, so
that I can show which devices are with which computers.
But that's not my immediate question.
Here is what I want to know first:
Each of these tables will have a serial number field for the
devices recorded.
Now, suppose I need to find the location of a device with a certain
serial number, but I do not know wether it is a computer, printer,
etc…
How do I create a serial number field that will allow me to search
all of the serial number fields in all of the tables?
Or, can I use the same serial number fields in all of the tables?
Thanks,
b0b
--
Bob Sandkam
MacOS Support
Information Technology Specialist II
VCUarts Computer Center
School of the Arts
Virginia Commonwealth University
