Customer Directory database structure

From: Carl Olsson <caos_at_regerar.com>
Date: 2 Jul 2003 07:52:58 -0700
Message-ID: <d495b147.0307020652.153361ee_at_posting.google.com>



Can somebody please help me out on this one? Every model I've come up with so far has too complex primary keys for the central objects.

I'm trying to build a customer directory; an application that keeps track of our customers needs and wishes in our production processes. You can think of it as a set of instructions for our personnel to follow.

The instructions are saved as combinations of properties and values. A property might be "Packing material" and a value might be "White beans" (most probably not, but you get the picture). An instruction is made up of a set of property-value combinations.

We have several different processes (packing, shipping etc) and each process needs its own set of properties.

To simplify management of this system, I'd like to create a template set of instructions for each process and only register each customer's deviations from the template.

In another attempt to simplify management, I want to be able to register customer deviations on different levels. For instance, customer One might want product A to be packed in cardboard boxes. If product A is heavier than 15 pounds it should have a special label on the box and if it is also worth more than $1000 we add a candy bar to the box.
Another customer might say that product A should always be packed in steel boxes, never mind its weight or price. In short, I want to be able to specify instructions on a product level that goes for all configurations of a product, but also another set of instructions that only apply for some product-weight combinations and finally a set of instructions that only apply for some product-weight-price combination values.

I need help to identify the objects and their relationships. Needless to say, my PHB hasn't budgeted for external support so I'm in the hands of your mercy. Received on Wed Jul 02 2003 - 16:52:58 CEST

Original text of this message