Question

Consider the following ternary relationship: ternary relationship

Suppose that all entities have only two attributes (PK and Name).


Here are the tables I derived (5 tables):

Sector
-------------------------
ID_Sector    SectorName
-------------------------

Product
-------------------------
ID_Product    ProductName
-------------------------

Company
--------------------------------------
ID_Company    ID_Sector    CompanyName
--------------------------------------

Relationship 1 (R1)
-------------------------
ID_Sector    ID_Product
-------------------------

Relationship 2 (R2)
-------------------------
ID_Company    ID_Product
-------------------------

Question:

Is it a good solution for that ternary relationship? What's the difference between having 2 tables (R1 and R2) instead of the following single table:

Ternary table
-------------------------------------
ID_Sector    ID_Company    ID_Product    
-------------------------------------

To me, it looks like that having 2 separate tables for each relationship (R1 and R2) is a better solution when compared to having a single table, but I don't know if that's actually true or if it's a good practice.

No correct solution

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