I am not a developer by any means, but I have a fairly good understanding of how relational databases work and the various types. I am trying to map a database design diagram (using Visio) and need to understand how I would represent the correct relationships in the correct way for a table which needs to reference Parent/Child categories.
As an example: A member/profile table linking to a product parent category table (reference table containing 3 different product types) which also has 2 layers of sub categories for each parent as a tree like structure that drills down into more specific products. I understand the Parent/Child relationships but would I need to link the member/profile table to the Parent Category table (which inherently links to the child categories), or would I need to link the member/profile table to all three tables individually (parent and two child tables).
What I am trying to represent within the diagram, to ensure this is correct is that this database will be used to drive a front end website and when a user selects a Parent Category type from a drop down list, depending on the category chosen, it would then present the appropriate drop down lists for the associated child categories, allowing the specific Product Types and Child categories products to be associated with the member.
I hope this makes sense and I have explained this in a way that someone will understand. I just need to know how to represent this correctly within Visio.