Question

My question is similar (but at the same time completely different) than this question:
Contacts Database

The question is simple: How can I create a Contacts database table which stores a user id and contact id without duplicating keys.

For example, if I have a table called Contacts, it would have a column user_id, and a column contact_id.

Once I do that, it should be as simple as inserting the user and the added contact. Once that is done though, how do I select all of a user’s contacts? Also, how do I narrow down the contact entry enough to delete it if need be?

Answer 1

I ended up just creating a table with two foreign keys and then selecting them based on either of the fields.

For example (pseudo code–no specific language, just english):

Table Contact:
    user = ForeignKey(from user table)
    contact = ForeignKey(from user table)

Then whenever I need something from them, I’ll check if the user field contains what I want and then I’ll check if the contact field has what I want. This way I don’t have to repeat records and I can still find what I need.

Thanks for your answers.