Duplicate columns in tables created by Designer 2000

Does anyone know how to eliminate duplicate key columns in tables generated by Designer 2000 from entities and foriegn key relationships?

The following example illustrates the problem.

We have two entities, "SKU" and "Warehouse". These both have as part of their primary UID a certain relationship (e.g. "belongs to Company"). Another entity, "Stock Item", has as its primary UID relations to "SKU" and "Warehouse". When the table is generated for "Stock Item", it will have four key columns -- SKU_Number, Warehouse_ID, and TWO COPIES OF COMPANY_CODE! How do we eliminate the redundant column?

This problem also creeps in with foriegn keys that are not part of the primary key. For example, an entity called "Buyer" may also depend on "Company" and may be referenced as a foreign key by "Warehouse". Then the "Warehouse" table will have a COMPANY_CODE column in its primary key and have another column containing COMPANY_CODE that is part of the foreign key specifying the buyer for that warehouse.

This looks like a problem with ER modelling tools in general, but I need a solution that can be implemented easily within D2K.

Leonard Vanek
len_at_cmic.ca Received on Wed Aug 14 1996 - 00:00:00 CEST