"dsellers" wrote:

> I am working on a database that is going to store contact information. I am
> trying to normalize this area quite a bit because I want multiple object
> types to be able to have the same address.
>
> I have built a Company Entity and a Employee Entity. I also have
> ElectronicAddress and PhysicalAddress Entities. These are related with a
> Object_has_ContactInformation Relationship.
>
> Company
> =======
> 1 Microsoft
> 2 Apple
>
> Employees
> =========
> 23 BillG
> 2 SteveJ
>
> PhysicalAddress
> ===============
> 8 1 Apple Way
> 99 56 Microsoft Lane
>
> Object_has_ContactInformation
> =============================
> Object, AddressId
> 2 8
>
> The problem is that this table has duplicates are we using a company (Apple)
> or an Employee (steveJ). How should I best handle this? Do I add a key
> ObjectType into Object_has_ContactInformation?
>
> Object_has_ContactInformation
> =============================
> ObjectId, ObjectType, AddressId
> 2 Company 8
>
> That would help. Or do I create a table that handles the Keys
> ContactInformationRegistry? Then use these keys to associate with the
> ContactInformation.
>
> ContactInformationRegistry
> ==========================
> Key, ObjectId, ObjectType(?)
> 1 2 Company
>
> Registry_has_ContactInformation
> =============================
> RegistryId, AddressId
> 2 8
>
> I am sure that I am way off base, but I would love to hear more ideas on the