Question

I am looking to create a MySQL shop that is capable of handling multiple categories. I have all of the category facility etc sorted but the bit I am not getting anywhere with is this..

Each item can have multiple options, for example a T-Shirt should have the options ‘Colour’ and ‘Size’. I then need to create a number of variations/ derived products from the parent product specifying that an Extra Large Blue T-Shirt has 20 in stock (for example). The problem is, it’s not just clothes being sold, it could be any number of things. So I also need this schema to be able to handle an infinite number of variants such as ‘6mm‘ ‘Large‘ Birthday Card with ‘Sports Car‘ design. 6mm, Large, and ‘Ace’ being the variables. This way I am able to ensure that we do not have any stock control issues. If it is any use to you, below is my current site structure.

Existing Database Schema http://www.hallwaystudios.com/screenshots/uploads/g5B7SNKU.png

I hope you understand what I mean and that someone has an answer to my problem! Many thanks in advance (and after of-course)

Answer 1

Not too sure what the problem is here… I’d probably create four tables:

-- a table of item types (t-shirt, birthday card, etc.)
CREATE TABLE ItemTypes (
  TypeID      INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  TypeName    VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL
);

-- a table of associated properties
CREATE TABLE TypeProperties (
  PropertyID  INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  TypeID      INT NOT NULL,
  PropName    VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
  INDEX(Property, TypeID),
  FOREIGN KEY(TypeID) REFERENCES ItemTypes(TypeID)
);

-- a table of specific items (XL Blue t-shirt, large bday card w/sports car, etc.)
CREATE TABLE Items (
  ItemID      INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  TypeID      INT NOT NULL,
  ItemName    VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  ItemPrice   DECIMAL UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
  ItemStock   INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
  INDEX(ItemID, TypeID),
  FOREIGN KEY(TypeID) REFERENCES ItemTypes(TypeID)
);

-- the dictionary of property values
CREATE TABLE ItemProperties (
  ItemID      INT NOT NULL,
  TypeID      INT NOT NULL,
  PropertyID  INT NOT NULL,
  Value       VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY(ItemID, Property),
  INDEX(ItemID,     TypeID),
  INDEX(PropertyID, TypeID),
  FOREIGN KEY(            TypeID) REFERENCES ItemTypes     (            TypeID),
  FOREIGN KEY(ItemID,     TypeID) REFERENCES Items         (ItemID,     TypeID),
  FOREIGN KEY(PropertyID, TypeID) REFERENCES TypeProperties(PropertyID, TypeID)
);

It ought to be fairly obvious, but just in case, the example data would look something like:

INSERT INTO ItemTypes (TypeID, TypeName) VALUES
  (1, 'T-Shirt'      ),
  (2, 'Birthday Card'),
  (3, 'Balloon'      );

INSERT INTO TypeProperties(PropertyID, TypeID, PropName) VALUES
  (51, 1, 'Colour' ), (52, 1, 'Size'),
  (53, 2, 'Size/mm'), (54, 2, 'Size'), (55, 2, 'Design'),
  (56, 3, 'Colour' );

INSERT INTO Items (ItemID, TypeID, ItemName, ItemPrice, ItemStock) VALUES
  (101, 1, 'Extra Large Blue T-Shirt',                       10.99, 20),
  (102, 2, '6mm Large Birthday Card with Sports Car Design',  2.99, 17),
  (103, 1, 'Extra Large Black T-Shirt',                      10.99,  5),
  (104, 3, 'Pink balloon',                                    0.10, 60);

INSERT INTO ItemProperties (ItemID, TypeID, PropertyID, Value) VALUES
  (101, 1, 51, 'Blue'       ),
  (101, 1, 52, 'Extra Large'),
  (102, 2, 53, '6'          ),
  (102, 2, 54, 'Large'      ),
  (102, 2, 55, 'Sports Car' ),
  (103, 1, 51, 'Black'      ),
  (103, 1, 52, 'Extra Large'),
  (104, 3, 56, 'Pink'       );