Re: Entity Overlap and Relationships

GB wrote:
> Thanks for the response, I really appreciate it even though I still
> might need to flesh out my problem a bit more. I guess my rephrased
> question is this: if I use a GUID as the ID for each Entity regardless
> of EntityType, should I have one table like EntityAddress that has an
> EntityID (GUID) column which relates to all three Entity Tables? Thus
> all Three Entity Tables would use the same address table?

You first of course need to establish whether that actually correctly models the situation. For example, is there really such a concept of *the* address of an entity (or *the* set of addresses) or could this depend upon the context (working address, billing address, shipping address, private address, et cetera). After you've established this you then have to think about what is the more efficient option. What are the typical queries that will be asked. What integrity constraints can the DBMS maintain and do you want them maintained? All these things might might play a role in deciding what is the best option, and I probably forgot a few. :-)

• Jan Hidders