Degree of participation

[jaydubya]

I am new to databases and Access, but I have been reading a book called Database Design for Mere Mortals by Michael Hernandez and it talks about setting the degree of participation between two tables, which is the minimum and maximum number of records that one table can have associated with a single record in a related table. But when I go to Access and try to do this, I have no idea how. Can this be accomplished in Microsoft Access? I have searched the net and have come up with nothing. Is it possible to set the degree of participation in Access? Any help or information would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Jay

[CJ_London]

this is not a phrase I am familiar with but if it means participation constraints, then Access would handle it though database design rather than built in database functionality.

Example: tableA is related to tableB on a one to many basis (each record in tableA can have many records in tableB)

To manage the constraint you would need to use VBA code using a hardcoded constraint or reference a table to set the min and max number of records that can be in tableB for each record in tableA then check the number of records already in existence.

[jaydubya]

Thanks, Ajax, for the response. Where can I find information on how to accomplish this? Thanks

[aytee111]

What is your rationale behind this? Please explain why you would want this restriction. This is an interesting concept and one I have never used, and would appreciate learning this new application.

[CJ_London]

@jaydubya -

Where can I find information on how to accomplish this?

provided in the last paragraph in post #2. There is no 'one size fits all' solution. This is something that many developers use without really thinking about it - see my response to aytee below.

@Aytee111

This is an interesting concept and one I have never used, and would appreciate learning this new application

The nearest examples I can think of that might be relevant is the situation where for example a loan application requires 3 approvals before final approval, or a purchasing system requires between 3 and 5 competitive quotes before an order can be placed, or a legal document needs between 2 and 4 signatures.

google 'database degree of participation' or similar to find out more, but be careful to remain on topic. 'degree of relationship' often comes up but that is something different

Here are a couple of links

http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_the...on_in_database

http://www.slideshare.net/NikhilDesw...on-constraints

Remember I reinterpreted 'degree of participation' to 'participation contraints' to answer the question 'Is it possible to set the degree of participation in Access?'

[aytee111]

Thanks for the explanation - something I just do in VBA without thinking! Gotta keep up with the buzzwords, lol.