I can not define the proper entities for this.

[dmontano]

I am not able to see the entities, join tables, or the correct structure clearly and suspect I am missing something.

 

Many "Vendors" can participate in one "Review".

 

Usually 3 to 5 vendors are selected and we allow each of these vendors to try and convince our company that they should be qualified as an "Approved Vendor". Once they have this status, our employees are free to contract work with those vendors.

 

A Review is typically a pre-defined document that outlines what criteria a vendor must meet. The Review in essence is our "filter". It also has steps outlined that the participating vendor must perform or demonstrate during the Review process. This predefined Review document is called our Scope, and we have about a dozen different Review Scopes. Each one addressing the different "types" of vendors we are reviewing.

 

 

I currently have this table structure:

I have a table for "vendor_companies";

I have a table for "vendor_reviews".

I have a table for "reviews";

 

I currently have this relationship structure:

vendor_companies ---

vendor_reviews >--- reviews (Many-to-One)

 

It seemed right, but then again, it does not.

 

I do not know in which table to build the details for 1 particular Review.

 

I am using my Review table as the source of my Review Scopes.

So, when a Review needs to be started, a User would select from a pre-defined Review Scope document as the basis for the Vendors to be evaluated agaisnt.

 

Then the User needs to select multiple vendors (3 to 5) that should participate in the "Review".

 

Any one of these vendors can participate in the same type of review at a later date, or an entirely different review concurrently.

 

Do I have a many-to-many-to-many relationship? If so, what are the entities?

 

Thanks

[Techphan]

Company applicants/solicitants (many) -- Reviews (join) -> Vendors (many)

 

 

The Review Company table would be the join table between Comapnies and Vendors. This table could then have a link to the Review table (because a company may undergo a review several times over the years).

[dmontano]

Thanks Techphan,

 

When I get back to this section of my solution - I will follow up with further questions.