The Draft Business Rules have been defined and are listed below ...

A. The Area being Modelled is :-
A Web Site providing Hotel Information.

B. The Things of Interest, ('THINGS'), include :-
B.1 Countries
B.2 Hotels
B.3 Hotel Chains
B.4 Star Ratings

C. These THINGS are Related as follows :-
C.1 A HOTEL must have one and only one STAR_RATING.
C.2 A HOTEL must be associated with one and only one COUNTRY.

D. Other Characteristics of these THINGS include
D.1 A HOTEL has a ROOM CAPACITY
D.2 A HOTEL can have one and only one ADDRESS.

E. Sample Data includes :-
To be determined

F. Typical Enquiries include :-
F.1 Find me a 5-Star Hotel in London, England.

G. DESIGN OPTIONS :
G.1 Handling Sub-Categories
       A general approach is to link the Table to itself. This allows flexible structures within the Products.
       A fixed approach is to have separate Tables for Categories and Sub-Categories.
	In this case, the general approach is recommended because change is likely to occur in the future.

G.1 Handling other Stuff associated with a PRODUCT :-
       A general approach like "Other Stuff" and "Other Stuff Type" or list them individually,
       such as SECURITY_ISSUES, etc..

       It's better to spell out the other Stuff because it makes the Database easier to understand.
       Usually the maintenance involved is not an issue.

       Different kinds of other Stuff which may occur in the future should be handled by adding specific Tables,
       reflecting the structure of the other Stuff.


Barry Williams
Principal Consultant
Database Answers
20th. January 2001