Hello, I have a beginner's question about modeling. The application I am working on is a plant database. One of the critical features is that it make it easy to represent symbiotic relationships (like the 3 sisters in Mexico, squash, beans and corn), and to discover potential new relationships.
So I have a plant model with some core characteristics describing a species. I would like to be able to assign certain attributes by which a plant has relationships with other species, such as: shade fixes_nitrogen scaffolding (corn provides a scaffold for beans to climb) Micronutrients etc. These would be another table. So far, easy. Plants can have one of two types of relationships with these characteristics. Either 'need' or 'provide'. So a plant could provide shade and need scaffolding, while another needs shade and provides scaffolding... Question: can this be represented with just two tables, and if so, how to go about it, or do I need to duplicate these characteristics in 'needs' and 'provides' tables? From the little I know about polymorphic associations, this seems different. Many thanks -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Hobo Users" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hobousers?hl=en.
