Re: Product Catalog Database Model

[James Smith]

 Very interesting.  How about grouping all the common information into one table then have another table linked to it that contains the productID, AttributeTypeID, Attribute Value.  The AttributeTypes can be predefined to fit all the columns that you don't want in your original table.  So basically, instead of putting the data into columns, your putting it into Rows. Then build some standardized functions/sp's to retrived all the data for a particular product ID, or perhaps create a view that transforms all the data into a "virtual" table.   James   ----- Original Message ----- From: Knight, Matt To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2003 11:30 AM Subject: Product Catalog Database Model I have run into a nasty mess.    I need to consolidate various product catalogs, with multiple fields of information from each, file attachments, images, etc. from multiple sub-companies into a single CFMX application.  I have designed the Components layer, and the presentation layer can be developed by any of our developers to suit their specific needs.  The data storage is the real mess.  I don't want to create dozens of tables to store all the relevant data (management nightmare) and I don't want a few smaller tables with many empty (null) fields (bad design).  XML was a thought, but the number of products is in the tens of thousands, and looping XML with a file that large is slow.   Any thoughts, suggestions, lessons learned.   Appreciation in advance   Matt Knight ►Dresser Corporate Web Team ► Dresser, Inc. ► w: 972 361 9943 ► m: 214 213 4016