Re: Pizza Example

"Dawn M. Wolthuis" <dwolt_at_tincat-group.com> wrote in message news:c4o2at$frb$1_at_news.netins.net...
> "rkc" <rkc_at_yabba.dabba.do.rochester.rr.bomb> wrote in message
> news:QtLbc.26194$nr4.17312_at_twister.nyroc.rr.com...
> >
> > "Dawn M. Wolthuis" <dwolt_at_tincat-group.com> wrote in message
> > news:c4nglq$7pt$1_at_news.netins.net...
> > > I'll try to see if I can get the essense of the display of data in the
> > pizza
> > > example to be clearer by removing the first few columns so it doesn't
> > wrap.
> > > I hope this displays better. Thanks. --dawn
> > >
> > > Size....Crust.......Sauce.....Cheese.........Topping
> > > 16" Chicago Tomato Mozzarella Pepperoni
> > > Feta Black Olives
> > > Parmesan

> > Start with your desired 'display' and apply the rules of normalization.
> > You seem to bright to not understand that, so you must be trying to
> > make some other point.
>
> Ah, so not all readers of the list have Bob B's opinion, eh?

I'm bright enough to recognize I'm not bright enough to have Bob's opinions.

> It is that I suspect that someone who thinks in terms of normalized data
> would not think about the problem domain in the same way. For example,
> perhaps someone would decide that the number of combinations was a
> relatively small finite number at this point in time and for the
foreseeable
> future and might make a table of all possible combinations of pizzas with
> generated candidate key. Then that would be placed as a foreign key in
>the
> ORDER_ITEM table.

Really? What would that table look like? A spreadsheet?

> So, you are right, I'm not simply asking for this data to be normalized,

>but  for it to be understood so that a relational database implementation
>way of thinking is presented.  I was going to simply use this as an example
>of  the difference between how an XML/PICK model of the data would
>look compared to

With no information other than your 'display' probably something like this:

Orders(OrderID*)
OrderItems(OrderID*, ItemNumber*, Size, Crust) OrderItemToppings(OrderID*, ItemNumber*, Topping*) Toppings(Topping*, ToppingType, Description) ToppingTypes(ToppingType*, Description)

Since I work almost exclusively with MS Access as a front end development system getting back to your 'display' would be done (by me, anyway) using that systems reporting fuctionality. Received on Sun Apr 04 2004 - 15:45:14 CEST