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Multiple_Category mod ./. Category Alternates

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Multiple_Category mod ./. Category Alternates
Hello Alex!

Now that I have seen Multiple Category mod, I have understood it from the Tables. I see that there can be two basic comcepts of inserting Multiple Categories :

1 - Having only one Table of Categories
and then having an association of links to two or more categories. That is one link is associated to two categories. This is the approach you have taken.

2 - having two tables with two different themes or set or Matrix of categories.

This means a link can be associated to two different categories from different tables. For e.g. Subject categories and Geographic categories. They are two set of tables and a link is asociated to one category in one of the table.

The disadvantage of the first system could be, I repeate could be, that the categories are then only in one table and could be a chaos.

If there is a seperate listing one wants to show i.e. Subject categories submit area and Geographic area then the first system would not be able to do so. However if from the begining the categories are defined and seperated then one can display it different and they are sorted.

Now, how can I modify myself. Or if this is something that is possible. To create a new table is no problem but to get it going in the submit area is or could be a problem.

If in there are two seperate tables of categories. Then in the add/modify it will pick the listings from both the tables and allow the surfer to submit in to two category. Then all one does is to have to extra columns in the Links table which will identify the ID of the categories. Thats all. I beleive it could work.

This way one can also have more then two tables for categories and also respectively more columns in the links table, which is directly proportional or related.

For large directories like that could be mine in future, I may easily have about ten thousand categories. More over it needs to be updated. Then from the begining if this is installed or configured in this way it would be better, dont you think so? (here there is no talk of a costoum job, as someone rightly suggested earlier.)

Thanks Alex.

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rajani











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Re: Multiple_Category mod ./. Category Alternates In reply to
 
Quote:
If there is a seperate listing one wants to show i.e. Subject categories submit area and Geographic area then the first system would not be able to do so.

It's quite possible. Let's take Yahoo. If you create categories:

Computers/Companies/
Regional/Canada/British Columbia/Vancouver

Then you place Gossamer Threads in one category and use the Alternate to also place it in the Vancouver category.

I'm not sure I understand the problem?

Cheers,

Alex
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Re: Multiple_Category mod ./. Category Alternates In reply to
Hello Alex,

Thanks for your answer.

I see that we both are right.

It is naturally possible to place one link in two categories as you rightly mentioned like in Yahoo, subject and Geographic categories.

My question is not really on the association of links to two related categories. My question is only and mainly on :

How to store two set of categories in two different tables. Or even more, three set of categories in three different tables. For e.g.

Table Table
Categories.Subject Category.Geographic
Internet(1) Canada(a)
Programming(2) Vancouver(b)
Internet/Programming(3) Canada/Vancouver(c)

Here 1,2,3 and a,b,c are used only to explain the argument and is good only for two tables of Categories.

Then :

Table : Links
Link ID . . . Cat_Sub Cat_Geo
100 XXX XXX XXX 3 c

This results in a real Multiple Category mod. I mean the one 1.01 is also a multile submission mod, but I would say as the name suggest, it is an Alternate possibility submission mod in different categories, therreby one has the possibilities of submitting in to two or more categories within the same set of table category values.

In the 1.01 mod of Multiple categories, all the values or the data are stored in to one table. So I will have all the Geographic and Subject Categories in ONE TABLE. Thats the problem. Now for Large directories this categories will keep on growing. One needs to export and import. If I have those in Access database seperated then I may have to import in to one table of category. If there are two seperate tables then I can import Subject Category in to Table Category.Subject and Geographic in to Category.Geographic.

That also helps from the begining. Right from importing the Category information of updating to end Submissions. For e.g. Add.cgi with then be able to show from two different tables two different categories, one field of Subject and the other field of Geographic. Hence the submission will then be in two categores, Geographic and Subject at the sametime.

What we have now is a seperate Table of Link_Index.By creating more fields the same table could be used to associate the same link to different Categories from different tables from Sub and Geo Tables.

1 - Would this be possible?
2 - My problem is also Import the database. This is ofcourse not in the format of the Links SQL. In my database I have many more fields. I can create more tables and fields and I am also well equiped with the necessary tools. Problem is to make it work with Links SQL.


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rajani