Help! With relationship Diagram

[ccastell88]

Hi i'm building a database with access for a computer business which sells computer products. The database is going to be from the point of view of the business not the customer. I'm having some trouble with the Relationship diagram, so far i have done this http://img509.imageshack.us/my.php?i...atabasefa1.jpg

The aim of the database so for the customer to purchase product, and the business records this transaction. Its from the point of view of the business not the customer. The business uses a supplier for its products and has no physical stock on hand.

 

[Newman]

The link does not work.

 

[ccastell88]

Sorry about that. Thanks for the heads up

 

[Newman]

Ok! Let's cut all this to pieces...
A customer has an order which might have many product on it.
So, you got your one-to-many relation there. (That's fine!)
Each OrderDetails correspond to one product.
So, you need a one-to-one relation for that product to get any info about it.
(I Think that the link should be OrderDetails!Product---ProductType!ProductTypeID)
Each product can be bought at many(I suppose!) suppliers.
So, you need a link from the product to all the suppliers that sell that product. (Question here: Does a supplier have many product?)

If the answer is yes, then your Supplier table is not working correctly. That would give you a many-to-many relation (Many suppliers for a product and many product from a supplier). So, you need an intermediate table. (Make a search for many-to-many and you'll find a lot of good threads talking about it.)
If the answer is no (Each supplier is specialised in one product only), then the supplier's name should already been available from the Product table.

I have done it very fast and I don't know all the details about the relation between the customer and the suppliers. Therefore this is a starting point of view. It may need some more thinking and tweaking.
If you have more question, don't hesitate.

 

[ccastell88]

Ok. I'm trying to find a example database which is similar to my setup, anyone know any good websites which you can download example databases? The only one i can find is Northwind

 

[Newman]

I don't know if they have what you are looking for, but here it is:Microsoft Office Templates
Good luck!

 

[ccastell88]

Thanks. Ok what would be a good problem definition for my database? I'm unsure of how to write a problem definition. So far i have said;

Store all transactions and orders made by customers.




- The database needs to be able to produce a list of orders by customer names

- Be able to calculate and total the amount of for orders.

 

[ccastell88]

This is actually a assignment. I want to design A database similar to north Northwind. What i have to do for the problem Definition is attached on this file


I have no previous database experience.... This assignment is a major assessment piece for my IT course. My Teacher, is the worst possible teacher you can get, in terms of teaching (Focuses her teaching from a book) Therefore i need all the help i can get from external sources. I'm hoping to get alot of this assignment done in a couple weeks, since its turning myself crazy!

 

[ccastell88]

I have finally started my database. I have put a attachment file of my process so far. Any recommendations or changes i should consider. Note: I haven't put the suppliers and customer table in yet. I will put them in later if i have time.