Tag: Pattern
Database Design Patterns for 2024
In 2024 and beyond, new types of applications will require you to refresh your arsenal of data modeling techniques. Find out what challenges you will face and what database design patterns you can use to overcome them.
It is often said that just when you think you know all the answers, the universe comes along and changes all the questions. The universe of database design is no exception. Just when you think you have all the knowledge you need to design any type of database, new types of applications appear that pose new challenges for database modeling.
Universal and Timeless Database Design Patterns for 2024 and Beyond
Choosing the right data model pattern is the best way to avoid mistakes and bad decisions when creating a new database schema. To make the right choice, browse through this catalog of current database design patterns and choose the one that best suits your project requirements.
Database design patterns are a useful tool to avoid the task of reinventing the wheel with every new database design you face. Since each design pattern offers proven solutions to common needs, it is just a matter of choosing the right pattern and saving yourself the trouble of starting from scratch.
Party Relationship Pattern. How to Model Relationships
Relationships are everywhere: between people, between organizations, between organizations and people. Think about being an employee of a company, being a member of a project team, or being a subsidiary of another company. Is there a straightforward way to accurately model and manage all these relationships? Can we easily answer the question ‘Who knows who?’
A Quick Review of Relationships Exactly how this basic model was derived was described in my previous article, Flexible and Manageable Bill of Materials (BOM) Designs.
Flexible and Manageable Bill of Materials (BOM) Designs
The bill of materials design pattern is deceptively simple, yet incredibly powerful. This article will introduce an example, familiar to IT professionals, that you may not have thought fits the BOM pattern. It will also introduce concepts to show you how to make your BOM structures more flexible and much easier to manage.
A Short Recap of the BOM A bill of materials has its roots in manufacturing. It is a list of the raw materials, sub-assemblies, intermediate assemblies, sub-components, parts, and the quantities of each needed to manufacture an end product.
Identifying the Bill of Materials (BOM) Structure in Databases
The bill of materials (BOM) design pattern is deceptively simple, yet incredibly powerful. Historically, it’s been employed to model product structures, but the pattern can be used to do much more than simply define a hierarchy. This article will introduce three very different examples to help you to recognize the pattern in your own projects.
What Is a Bill of Materials, or BOM? A bill of materials has its roots in manufacturing.
Using Configuration Tables to Define the Actual Workflow
The first part of this series introduced some basic steps for managing the lifecycle of any entity in a database. Our second and final part will show you how to define the actual workflow using additional configuration tables. This is where the user is presented with allowable options each step of the way. We’ll also demonstrate a technique for working around the strict reuse of ‘assemblies’ and ‘sub-assemblies’ in a Bill of Materials structure.
Using Workflow Patterns to Manage the State of Any Entity
Have you ever come across a situation where you need to manage the state of an entity that changes over time? There are many examples out there. Let’s start with an easy one: merging customer records.
Suppose we are merging lists of customers from two different sources. We could have any of the following states arise: Duplicates Identified – the system has found two potentially duplicate entities; Confirmed Duplicates – a user validates the two entities are indeed duplicates; or Confirmed Unique – the user decides the two entities are unique.
