database design question

[Dan Telschow]

Are we to assume that options can be different between Product Outlets?

James Lance wrote:
> I thought I would see if any of you DBA's out there have any advice.
> I'm building an inventory system that deals with inventory tracking,
> and also with where inventory is being sold (outlets).  I'm having a
> bit of a problem with dealing with outlet over rides.  For example, I
> have a pair of shoes and the shoes are available in different sizes.
> I'm selling these shoes on amazon.com and ebay.com.  I want my price
> to be different for amazon than with ebay.  I'm trying to build the
> tables that deal with the outlet differences.  Let me put up a
> simplified version of the current database:
>
> Product:
>   name
>   sku
>   price
>   manufacturer
>   weight
>   box-dimensions
>   type (can be master or normal.  If master then see options table)
>   ...etc...
>
> Product Option:
>   FK to Product
>   sku
>   desc
>   value
>
> Now I have the Outlet:
>
> Outlet:
>   name
>   url
>   ...etc...
>
> ProductOutlet:
>   FK to Product
>   FK to Outlet
>   price (overrides default price)
>   quantity
>
>
> Now here comes the part that I'm confused about.  How should I deal
> with the Product options?  I've thought of a few ways to deal with
> them, but none seem very good.  The ProductOutlet table is a many to
> many relationship.  It seems odd to me to add an option table that
> refers to a many to many lookup table.
>
> ProductOptionOutlet?
>   FK to ProductOutlet (navigating back to product gets tedious, I can
> add more FK's)
>   FK to ProductOption
>   quantity
>
> Does anyone have any suggestions for how I could deal with this?  I'm
> really not even certain if I should keep the way that I'm dealing with
> products and their options.
>
> Thanks,
> James Lance
>
> /*
> PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net
> Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug
> Don't fear the penguin.
> */
>   
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com 
> Version: 8.0.169 / Virus Database: 270.6.21/1678 - Release Date: 9/18/2008 9:01 AM
>
>