# Proposals for fixing the table data

Here is our existing table:

| name | description | price | count | weight | dimensions |
| ---- | ----------- | ------ | ----- | ------ |--------------|
| Anne | Cork Board | 8.29 | 1 | 1.2 | 17x0.8x23 |
| John | Fuzzy Socks | 2.50 | 5 | 0.1 | 9x7x0.5 |
| Ken | Fedora | 16.99 | 2 | 0.1 | 9x9x4 |
| Anne | Printer | 129.99 | 1 | 9.5 | 15.4x11.8x5.7|
| Anne | Fuzzy Socks | 2.50 | 3 | 0.1 | 9x7x0.5 |
| Ken | Printer | 129.99 | 1 | 9.5 | 15.4x11.8x5.7|
| John | Lamp | 79.99 | 1 | 2.57 | 10.5x7x20.5 |
| Ken | Fuzzy Socks | 2.50 | 1 | 0.1 | 9x7x0.5 |
| Anne | Gift Card | 40.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken | Gift Card | 20.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 |

The table data organization has two main problems:

* It repeats information about catalog items in multiple rows of the orders table
* It has multiple rows for each person, even though the tasks mostly process orders for a single person.

Here are two concrete proposals for organizing the data which address one or both of these problems:

## Proposal 1: Linking the Tables

The current orders table repeats the price and weight columns from the catalog. Instead, it would be better to leave that information in the catalog table, and have a way to reference into particular rows of the catalog table from the orders table.

Concretely: replace the `description`, `price`, and`weight` columns in the orders table with an `item-id` column. Then, when a program needs the price of an item, the `item-id` can be used to find the appropriate row in the catalog.

New order table (first two rows):

| name | item-id | count |
| ---- | ------- | ----- |
| Anne | 7 | 1 |
| John | 6 | 5 |

These item-ids match the contents in the first column of the catalog, as shown in the [Google Sheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1REUzlRZ9aVZCO-KXb1d1vTpEnjJSvuFaRmghu7LX2GM/edit?usp=sharing).

## Proposal 2: Create Datatypes

Dispense with the tables entirely, and instead use three datatypes:

* A datatype called `ItemData` for data about catalog items and gift cards. For catalog items, the components are the description, price, weight, and dimensions. For gift-cards, the only component is the amount stored on the card.

* A datatype called `Order` which has two components: an `ItemData` and the count of that item that someone wants to order (there would be one `Order` value for each row of the original orders table)

* A datatype called `UserOrder` which has two components: the customer’s name, and a list of their `Order`.