Multiple subtables

[Ernst Guckel]

Hello,

Not sure how to approach this:

We have an inventory database that has a variety of item types.
Workstations and printers have quite a difference of data fields to be
recorded. Should we store all items in one table and just not use the fields
that do not pertain to those types or should we have a parent table with the
shared fields and multiple subtables to store the specific fields to each
type?

The second sounds like a better idea but couldnt things go wrong later with
multiple tables linking to the same parent table?

Thanks,
Ernst.

 

[KARL DEWEY]

Do an analysis on which fields to include in the main table based on how many
times a given field would be used or not.
I think using one other table instead of multiple subtables to store the
specific fields to each type having these fields --
tblSubInfo --
SubInfoID - primary key
InventoryID - foreign key
DataType -
Data -

DataType tells you what the data is (serial, price, color, etc.).