Chapter 2. Using header/detail tables

Now that you have a basic understanding of the concepts of data modeling, we can start discussing the first of many scenarios, which is the use of header/detail tables. This scenario happens very frequently. By themselves, header/detail tables are not a complex model to use. Nevertheless, this scenario hides some complexities whenever you want to mix reports that aggregate numbers at the two different levels.

Examples of header/detail models include invoices with their lines or orders with their lines. Bills of materials are also typically modeled as header/detail tables. Another example would be if you need to model teams of people. In this case, the two different levels would be the team and the people. ...

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