Hello dbforum friends..
i d like to pick your brains about something..
Suppose i want to create a database for storing, lets say computer stuff, parts, hardware, peripherals etc....

Which way would be better?

1
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Create a Basictable with all the common fields (like ProductName, Price,Guarantee....)
and then create multiple other tables with each categorie's specific fields and binding those tables with the Basictable with one-to-one relationships..

2
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Create just one table with all possible fields and keep Null values in the fields that are not needed for specific categories..

or maybe a third way.. ?

Thanx in advance..

both of the methods you describe are suitable

which one is "better" will depend on several things

- how many shared columns are there in the supertype table
- how many unique columns are there in the subtype tables
- how frequently only the supertype table is queried
- how frequently only specific subtypes are queried

yeah.. or i guess i could combine both ways.. Like keeping the supertype table for the common fields and joinning together some of the subtype tables that have most of their fields in common