Mapping products with similar names - php

Question

I am trying to find a good solution to accomplish the following:
I have a table which includes the name of various products, such as:
"Tide - Original Scent".
In addition, I also have the amount in there for e.g. 50 fl oz.
The problem I have right now is, that the product not only comes in containers of 50 fl oz but also in different sizes such as 75 fl oz and 100 fl oz. For each of these I have new rows in the product table:
id| productName | amount | unit
1 |"Tide - Original Scent" | 50 | "fl oz"
2 |"Tide - Original Scent" | 75 | "fl oz"
3 |"Tide - Original Scent" | 100 | "fl oz"
Now I have a web interface to perform a search on this table and whenever I search for "tide" I get all three rows - which is supposed to be like that of course. However I would like a different behavior and this is where I need your help:
Instead of returning all three rows I would like one row only. I would then need to be able to process it in php so that if the user clicks on "Tide - Original Scent" that the user is then prompted to select the size.
To add even more complexity to the task:
I also have products in the same table named:
"Tide - Mountain Spring".
In this case, it would be great to have some relations set up so I know that "Tide - Original Scent" is linked with "Tide - Mountain Spring". Within php I would then like to not only give the user the choice of selecting the size but also the (in this case) scent.
What would your recommendation be on how I can accomplish this (not the php part)?
How would your database look like?
Do I need to create a table where I map these products? How would this look like if you would create this :)

Answer 1

2 possibilities:
Don't store the sizes in that table - along with the other specific information. Move that to another table. Denormalize your structure.
or
Query but group by the name. For the size column, do a count(amount). If it's more than one, you can then populate a drop down with choices. This is good temporary fix.
SELECT productName, count(amount) AS numOfChoices FROM YOUR_TABLE
WHERE LOWER(productName) LIKE 'tide%'
GROUP BY productName
then after the choice is made
SELECT id, amount FROM YOUR_TABLE
WHERE id = "$selectedId"
to present a choice of sizes that will pin point which one.

Answer 2

I would personally setup my tables like this..
Products Table:
ID| Product ID | Product Name | Description
1 | 0404888282 | Tide - Original Scent | Smells Good
Quantity Table:
ID| Product ID | Size| Price | Quantity
1 | 0404888282 | 50 | 4.99 | 23
2 | 0404888282 | 75 | 5.99 | 120
3 | 0404888282 | 100 | 7.99 | 10
This structure you have a table for each unique item, another for the sizes and quantity of each size. Keeps the structure clean and easy to understand.

Answer 3

"Instead of returning all three rows I would like one row only."
SELECT DISTINCT productName FROM YOUR_TABLE WHERE LOWER(productName) LIKE 'tide%'
And you'll need a functional index on LOWER(productName) for good performance. Alternatively a case-insensitive collation sequence could be used on DBMSes that support that (e.g. MS SQL Server).
"I would then need to be able to process it in php so that if the user clicks on "Tide - Original Scent" that the user is then prompted to select the size."
SELECT amount FROM YOUR_TABLE WHERE productName = whatever_user_selected
"To add even more complexity to the task: I also have products in the same table named:
"Tide - Mountain Spring"."
The query above will also return that.

Answer 4

What you can do is :
$Query = 'SELECT productName, amount, unit FROM products';
$Data = array();
while($Assoc = mysql_fetch_assoc($Query)){
if(!isset($Data[$Assoc['productName']])){
$Data[$Assoc['productName']] = array();
}
$Size = $Assoc['amount'].' '$Assoc['unit'];
$Data[$Assoc['productName']][] = $Size;
}
// Now what you can do is :
foreach($Data as $ProductName => $Amount){
echo $ProductName.' has :<br />';
if(count($Amount) > 0){
foreach($Amount as $Key => $Value){
echo $Value.'<br />';
}
} else {
echo 'Nothing<br />';
}
}
This however doesn't solve the problem on MySQL's side. IT will work in PHP wihtout problem. It's not beautiful but it's working.

Answer 5

For the first problem, you could create two tables:
products - this is where you store all the information about a product except for the specifics such as different sizes, colors, etc.
attributes - you would link to the product and for each attribute you specify a value
products
id | description
---+------------
1 | crazy shirt
2 | clown shoe
attributes
product | name | value
--------+-------+-------
1 | color | green
1 | color | blue
1 | size | medium
2 | size | large
You can optimize the attributes table further by creating a attribute_names table (and even an attribute_values table).
For your second problem, you could either:
create a related product id column inside the products table; this would limit you to only one related product per product.
create a related product table in which you store combinations between two products.
related_products
product_id | related_product_id
-----------+-------------------
1 | 2
1 | 3
That would create a relationship between product 1 and products 2 and 3.
Hope this helps.

Answer 6

Create a foreign key to sublabels, and order them with a counter. This will look like.
Product Table:
Product ID (key)
Brand ID
Price
Brand Table:
Brand ID (key)
Brand
Sublable Table:
ID
Product ID
Order Index
Value
Size Table:
Size ID
Value
Unit
ProductSize Table:
Size ID
Product ID
Then, you'll divide into subcategories using subsequent sublabels.
Products
10 | 6 | 1.99
11 | 6 | 2.99
12 | 6 | 3.99
13 | 6 | 1.99
14 | 6 | 2.99
15 | 6 | 3.99
Brand
6 | Tide
Sublabel
30 | 10 | 1 | Original Scent
30 | 11 | 1 | Original Scent
30 | 12 | 1 | Original Scent
30 | 13 | 1 | Mountain Spring
30 | 14 | 1 | Mountain Spring
30 | 15 | 1 | Mountain Spring
Size Table
1 | 50 | fl.oz.
2 | 75 | fl.oz.
3 | 100 | fl.oz.
Product Size Table
1 | 10
1 | 13
2 | 11
2 | 14
3 | 12
3 | 15