[Gdpdm-devel] Path from "div_experiment" to "div_scoring_tech_type"

[Ken Youens-C. <kc...@cs...>]

Terry || Ed || Isaak,

Per a request from Isaak, I'm trying to create a display of a record  
from the "div_experiment" table that includes its related  
"div_scoring_tech_type."  My code is using some graph theory to  
automatically navigate the schema to get between these tables.  Using  
a shortest path-finding algorithm developed by Dijkstra, it has  
determined the path to be this:

  div_experiment
  div_obs_unit
  div_stock
  div_allele_assay
  div_scoring_tech_type

However, looking at the schema, I think it should probably go like this:

  div_experiment
  div_obs_unit
  div_obs_unit_sample
  div_allele
  div_allele_assay
  div_scoring_tech_type

Is there a preferred path, or are both valid?  How do you feel about  
there being multiple possible paths through the schema?  Is this a  
sign of weakness or robustness?  I don't know the biology nearly  
enough to comment on how well the schema mirrors the data, but I'm  
worried by the fact that the schema isn't explicit in its definition  
as to how to get from one table to the other.

ky