How to store multiple items for one ID?

Question

I'm trying to set up a mysql database and it is a real brainf*ck for me.. This is my problem. Lets say I have a list of devices. like phone 1 , Phone 2 and so on. I give every device a ID named Device_ID. Every phone has accessories, but some of these accessories can be used by multiple phones.

Now I want to see all compatible accessories for one specific device. and store this in a database without having to type every accessory multiple times for every compatible device.

any help how to do this ?

thnx in advance

Answer 1

You create three tables, phones , accessories and phone_accessories . The third one is a joining table that only contains a phone_id and an accessory_id . Each accessory is given one row in the accessories table, and when you say that an accessory can be used for a phone, you create one row in the phone_accessories table that contains the ID of the phone and accessory. Then you can use MySQL joins to get all accessories for a phone or all phones for an accessory