Hey everyone,

I found this forum with google and am very interested in what it holds...

I'm currently in a database class with a college close by and am a bit confused... so I thought I'd start here...

I'm using Access to create a phonebook type database and then I have to create and ERD of the same thing...

How do I use Access to create the ERD? I know I've seen it in there but it doesn't look right...

This is the instructions that he gives the class:

I would like for you to create an ERD (entity relationship diagram) of your existing cell phone's contact database. Then I would like you to create an ERD for your proposed contact database.

These are the different things I need to add to the first one... once I make the first one, I'm sure I'll know how to do the 2nd...


NAME:
MOBILE 1:
HOME:
WORK:
EMAIL 1:
GROUP:
PICTURE:
RINGTONE:
MOBILE 2:
FAX:
EMAIL 2:
NOTES:

PLEASE HELP!!

I'm guessing the way I'd start this is say that...

One cell phone has many contacts... so make one cell phone box and have it go to a contact box, then say that many contacts have many types of contact information... so make another box w/ the contact info?

I'm going to move your thread to the Database Concepts & Design forum. It will probably get many more folks that can help you there, since the New Members & Introductions forum is really intended and used more for "Hello, World" kinds of messages.

First and foremost, very few if any of the regulars at DBForums will actually DO your homework for you. Most of us are glad to help, and the more effort you put foreward, the more likely we are to help. If someone appears willing to actually DO your homework for you, be very, VERY wary. I won't explain why you need to be wary, but trust me on this one... You do!

Now, on to your question! You have to think carefully about how your cell phone's contact database works. There are significant differences in how the cell phone's "phonebook" works. If you can tell us what model phone you've got, it will help a great deal in getting you specific answers and guidance.

Newer cell phones tend to look at phonebooks as a collection of name each name having a collection of phone numbers of different types. Most older cell phones tend to look as a phonebook consisting of names associated with single numbers. There are important differences between these two perspectives when it comes to data (ERD) modeling.

Anywho, welcome to DBForums!

-PatP

Thanks Pat for your help.

Just to let u know though, I'm not wanting anyone to do my homework for me. I would just like someone to guide me in how to set this diagram up... only because I've never seen someone do it before. So it'd help a great deal... this is why I also said that I could most likely easily do the 2nd part of it myself if someone could help w/ the first...

My phone is a Samsung u540 for Verizon Wireless

I'll check out where u moved this... thanks again!

this is my idea of how i would think it might look... but i could be totally wrong

[img=http://img33.picoodle.com/data/img33/3/9/7/t_CONTACTSm_15fc068.jpg]

Ok, we'll start "at the top" and work our way down...

Do you intend to model many cell phones, or just your own cell phone? Entities (tables) are only useful if they contain information that helps you. If you only intend to model your own phone, what information would you put into the cell phone entity?

What I'm trying to do here is to get you to think about Entities, and more specifically what you want to do with those Entities. There isn't a right or wrong answer to my questions, for multiple reasons. You have to decide what you want to model, and your decision of what you intend to model will determine what fits with what you are modeling.

-PatP

Well sir, here is what i did... (updated and much better looking)

http://img26.picoodle.com/data/img26...2m_cb8d1ab.jpg

I wanted to make it for my cell phone only... and wanted to contain a list of the options provided above, plus the ones i added in this picture you see here...

does this look okay?

After your next reply, I'm going to change the name of this thread to something like "Cell phone directory" to more accurately reflect this discussion. An accurate subject/title helps people to know if they are interested in a thread.

I'm trying to understand what information (entity attributes) you expect to store in the cell phone entity. It looks to me like there is just one attribute called contacts, which is probably a surrogate key. Coach me a bit here... I'm sure that you're getting at something, but I'm not catching it.

As a side note, the u540 has contact groups. Your diagram appears to have shifted from part 1 of the assignment to part 2. Did you decide to dispense with the contact groups?

-PatP