For this question, consider an application using a multi-tennant database with modeling of manufacturers and models. If we’re talking about cars then the manufacturers would be Ford, Chevrolet, BMW, etc. and the models would be F-150, Camaro, and M3.
Relationship of model to manufacturer is many to one. Data for each tenant is separated using a customer_id.
Requirements for the data model:
- Manufacturers and models can be defined at the master level to make them available to all customers
- Customer select which of the master entities they would like to use
- Customers may override attributes of a master model or manufacturer
- Customers may create their own manufacturers
- Customers may create their own models for their own or a master manufacturer
- Other entities in the model will be related to these entities so it is desirable that there be one main table for each that a foreign key can be made to. The manufacturers and models tables fill that role in the example.
In this example:
- Customer 1 uses Ford as-is, overrides Chevrolet, and adds two custom manufacturers
- Customer 1 uses Chevrolet and BMW as-is and adds one custom manufacturer
- Models are created as per the comments in the script
Below is an annotated sample implementation that meets all of the requirements.
- How can this be improved?
- In what other ways could these relationships be modeled?
Manufacturer Tables
/*
* Master manufacturers shared between all customers
*/
CREATE TABLE master_manufacturers (
master_manufacturer_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
attribute_1 VARCHAR(50),
/* ... */
attribute_n VARCHAR(50),
PRIMARY KEY (master_manufacturer_id)
);
INSERT INTO
master_manufacturers (master_manufacturer_id, name)
VALUES
(1, 'Ford'),
(2, 'Chevrolet'),
(3, 'BMW');
/*
* A Customer's manufacturer.
* If master_manufacturer_id IS NULL, then it is a custom manufacturer and manufacturer_custom contains the data
* If master_manufacturer_id IS NOT NULL and manufacturer_custom does not exist, then the master is used without modification
* If master_manufacturer_id IS NOT NULL and manufacturer_custom exists, then the master is overridden
*/
CREATE TABLE manufacturers (
manufacturer_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
customer_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
master_manufacturer_id INTEGER,
PRIMARY KEY (manufacturer_id),
FOREIGN KEY (master_manufacturer_id) REFERENCES master_manufacturers (master_manufacturer_id),
UNIQUE (customer_id, master_manufacturer_id)
);
INSERT INTO
manufacturers (manufacturer_id, customer_id, master_manufacturer_id)
VALUES
(1, 1, 1),
(2, 1, 2),
(3, 1, NULL),
(4, 1, NULL),
(5, 2, 2),
(6, 2, 3),
(7, 2, NULL);
CREATE TABLE manufacturer_custom (
manufacturer_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
attribute_1 VARCHAR(50),
/* ... */
attribute_n VARCHAR(50),
PRIMARY KEY (manufacturer_id),
FOREIGN KEY (manufacturer_id) REFERENCES manufacturers (manufacturer_id)
);
INSERT INTO
manufacturer_custom (manufacturer_id, name)
VALUES
(2, 'Chevy'),
(3, 'Cust 1 Custom 1'),
(4, 'Cust 1 Custom 2'),
(7, 'Cust 2 Custom 1');
Model Tables
/*
* Master models shared between all customers
*/
CREATE TABLE master_models (
master_model_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
master_manufacturer_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
attribute_1 VARCHAR(50),
/* ... */
attribute_n VARCHAR(50),
PRIMARY KEY (master_model_id),
FOREIGN KEY (master_manufacturer_id) REFERENCES master_manufacturers (master_manufacturer_id)
);
INSERT INTO
master_models (master_model_id, master_manufacturer_id, name)
VALUES
(1, 1, 'F-150'),
(2, 1, 'F-250'),
(3, 1, 'Falcon'),
(4, 2, 'Camaro'),
(5, 2, 'Corvette'),
(6, 3, 'M3'),
(7, 3, '135i');
/*
* A Customer''s model.
* If master_model_id IS NULL, then it is a custom model and model_custom contains the data
* If master_model_id IS NOT NULL and model_custom does not exist, then the master is used without modification
* If master_model_id IS NOT NULL and model_custom exists, then the master is overridden
*/
CREATE TABLE models (
model_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
master_model_id INTEGER,
manufacturer_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
attribute_1 VARCHAR(50),
/* ... */
attribute_n VARCHAR(50),
PRIMARY KEY (model_id),
FOREIGN KEY (master_model_id) REFERENCES master_models (master_model_id)
);
INSERT INTO
models (model_id, master_model_id, manufacturer_id)
VALUES
(1, 1, 1), /* F-150 for customer_1's Ford */
(2, 2, 1), /* F-250 for customer_1's Ford */
(3, 4, 2), /* Camaro for customer_1's Chevy */
(4, 4, 5), /* Camaro for customer_2's Chevrolet */
(5, 5, 5), /* Corvette for customer_2's Chevrolet */
(6, 6, 6), /* M3 for customer_2's BMW */
(7, NULL, 1), /* F-350 (custom) for customer_1's Ford */
(8, NULL, 6), /* M7 (custom) for customer_2's BMW */
(9, NULL, 7); /* Custom Model (custom) for customer_2's Custom Mfg */
CREATE TABLE model_custom (
model_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
attribute_1 VARCHAR(50),
/* ... */
attribute_n VARCHAR(50),
PRIMARY KEY (model_id),
FOREIGN KEY (model_id) REFERENCES models (model_id)
);
INSERT INTO
model_custom (model_id, name)
VALUES
(7, 'F-350'), /* F-350 for customer_1's Ford */
(8, 'M7'), /* M7 for customer_2's BMW */
(9, 'Custom Model'); /* Custom Model for customer_2's Custom Mfg */
Views to simplify using these tables
/*
* View for a customer''s manufacturers
*/
CREATE VIEW vw_manufacturers AS
SELECT
m.customer_id,
m.manufacturer_id,
COALESCE(cm.name, mm.name) AS name,
COALESCE(cm.attribute_1, mm.attribute_1) AS attribute_1,
/* ... */
COALESCE(cm.attribute_n, mm.attribute_n) AS attribute_n
FROM
manufacturers m
LEFT JOIN
master_manufacturers mm
USING
(master_manufacturer_id)
LEFT JOIN
manufacturer_custom cm
USING
(manufacturer_id);
/*
* View for a customer's models
*/
CREATE VIEW vw_models AS
SELECT
mfg.customer_id,
mfg.manufacturer_id,
mfg.name AS manufacturers_name,
m.model_id,
COALESCE(cm.name, mm.name) AS name,
COALESCE(cm.attribute_1, mm.attribute_1) AS attribute_1,
/* ... */
COALESCE(cm.attribute_n, mm.attribute_n) AS attribute_n
FROM
vw_manufacturers mfg,
models m
LEFT JOIN
master_models mm
USING
(master_model_id)
LEFT JOIN
model_custom cm
USING
(model_id)
WHERE
mfg.manufacturer_id = m.manufacturer_id;
Manufacturers for customer_id 1
SELECT manufacturer_id, name FROM vw_manufacturers WHERE customer_id = 1;
manufacturer_id | name
-----------------+-----------------
1 | Ford
2 | Chevy
3 | Cust 1 Custom 1
4 | Cust 1 Custom 2
Manufacturers for customer_id 2
SELECT manufacturer_id, name FROM vw_manufacturers WHERE customer_id = 2;
manufacturer_id | name
-----------------+-----------------
5 | Chevrolet
6 | BMW
7 | Cust 2 Custom 1
Models for customer_id 1
SELECT * FROM vw_models WHERE customer_id = 1;
customer_id | manufacturer_id | manufacturers_name | model_id | name
-------------+-----------------+--------------------+----------+--------
1 | 1 | Ford | 1 | F-150
1 | 1 | Ford | 2 | F-250
1 | 2 | Chevy | 3 | Camaro
1 | 1 | Ford | 7 | F-350
Models for customer_id 2
SELECT * FROM vw_models WHERE customer_id = 2;
customer_id | manufacturer_id | manufacturers_name | model_id | name
-------------+-----------------+--------------------+----------+--------------
2 | 5 | Chevrolet | 4 | Camaro
2 | 5 | Chevrolet | 5 | Corvette
2 | 6 | BMW | 6 | M3
2 | 6 | BMW | 8 | M7
2 | 7 | Cust 2 Custom 1 | 9 | Custom Model
You need the following tables:
If you have tables with identical data – you need to consolidate them, and use a TYPE_CODE table to differentiate them.
Re: MANUFACTURERS & CUSTOMERS
Currently, you’d need the PK to be MANUFACTURER-ID and CUSTOMER-ID. Better to split MANUFACTURERS into MANUFACTURERS-CODE and MANUFACTURER-DETAILS. MANUFACTURER-CODE would contain “BMW”, “FORD”, etc. plus custom. MANUFACTURER-DETAILS would allow you to keep details data on a per customer basis while allowing you to reuse codes for things like “BMW”/etc. The same goes for models.
The next step would be to define TYPE-CODE tables for things like engine, wheels, etc. I’d relate these to the MODEL-DETAILS using a XREF table called MODEL-ATTRIBUTES. The MODEL-ATTRIBUTES table would contain:
This would allow for optional model attributes to be associated with the applicable MODEL-DETAILS record, without constantly adding attributes to the MODEL-DETAILS table.
MANUFACTURER-CODE
MANUFACTURER-CODE | DESCRIPTION | EFFECTIVE-DATE | EXPIRY-DATE
FORD | FORD | 01-01-1900 | 12-31-9999
BMW | BMW | 01-01-1900 | 12-31-9999
CHEV | Chevrolet | 01-01-1900 | 12-31-9999
MANUFACTURER-TYPE-CODE
MANUFACTURER-TYPE-CODE | DESCRIPTION
MASTER | Master
CUSTOM | Custom
MANUFACTURER-DETAILS
MANUFACTURER-DETAILS-ID | MANUFACTURER-CODE | MANUFACTURER-TYPE-CODE | CUSTOMER-ID
1 | BMW | MASTER | 1
2 | BMW | CUSTOM | 1
MODEL
MODEL-ID | MANUFACTURER-DETAILS-ID | DESCRIPTION
1 | 1 | M3
1 | 2 | M3 lowered