引言
大多数用户都曾在数据库中处理过分层数据(hierarchical data),认为分层数据的管理不是关系数据库的目的。之所以这么认为,是因为关系数据库中的表没有层次关系,只是简单的平面化的列表;而分层数据具有父-子关系,显然关系数据库中的表不能自然地表现出其分层的特性。
我们认为,分层数据是每项只有一个父项和零个或多个子项(根项除外,根项没有父项)的数据集合。分层数据存在于许多基于数据库的应用程序中,包括论坛和邮件列表中的分类、商业组织图表、内容管理系统的分类、产品分类。我们打算使用下面一个虚构的电子商店的产品分类:
这些分类层次与上面提到的一些例子中的分类层次是相类似的。在本文中我们将从传统的邻接表(adjacency list)模型出发,阐述2种在MySQL中处理分层数据的模型。
邻接表模型
上述例子的分类数据将被存储在下面的数据表中(我给出了全部的数据表创建、数据插入的代码,你可以跟着做):、
CREATE TABLE category(
category_id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
name VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
parent INT DEFAULT NULL);
INSERT INTO category
VALUES(1,'ELECTRONICS',NULL),(2,'TELEVISIONS',1),(3,'TUBE',2),
(4,'LCD',2),(5,'PLASMA',2),(6,'PORTABLE ELECTRONICS',1),
(7,'MP3 PLAYERS',6),(8,'FLASH',7),
(9,'CD PLAYERS',6),(10,'2 WAY RADIOS',6);
SELECT * FROM category ORDER BY category_id;
+-------------+----------------------+--------+
| category_id | name | parent |
+-------------+----------------------+--------+
| 1 | ELECTRONICS | NULL |
| 2 | TELEVISIONS | 1 |
| 3 | TUBE | 2 |
| 4 | LCD | 2 |
| 5 | PLASMA | 2 |
| 6 | PORTABLE ELECTRONICS | 1 |
| 7 | MP3 PLAYERS | 6 |
| 8 | FLASH | 7 |
| 9 | CD PLAYERS | 6 |
| 10 | 2 WAY RADIOS | 6 |
+-------------+----------------------+--------+
10 rows in set (0.00 sec)
在邻接表模型中,数据表中的每项包含了指向其父项的指示器。在此例中,最上层项的父项为空值(NULL)。邻接表模型的优势在于它很简单,可以很容易地看出FLASH是MP3 PLAYERS的子项,哪个是portable electronics的子项,哪个是electronics的子项。虽然,在客户端编码中邻接表模型处理起来也相当的简单,但是如果是纯SQL编码的话,该模型会有很多问题。
检索整树
通常在处理分层数据时首要的任务是,以某种缩进形式来呈现一棵完整的树。为此,在纯SQL编码中通常的做法是使用自连接(self-join):
SELECT t1.name AS lev1, t2.name as lev2, t3.name as lev3, t4.name as lev4
FROM category AS t1
LEFT JOIN category AS t2 ON t2.parent = t1.category_id
LEFT JOIN category AS t3 ON t3.parent = t2.category_id
LEFT JOIN category AS t4 ON t4.parent = t3.category_id
WHERE t1.name = 'ELECTRONICS';
+-------------+----------------------+--------------+-------+
| lev1 | lev2 | lev3 | lev4 |
+-------------+----------------------+--------------+-------+
| ELECTRONICS | TELEVISIONS | TUBE | NULL |
| ELECTRONICS | TELEVISIONS | LCD | NULL |
| ELECTRONICS | TELEVISIONS | PLASMA | NULL |
| ELECTRONICS | PORTABLE ELECTRONICS | MP3 PLAYERS | FLASH |
| ELECTRONICS | PORTABLE ELECTRONICS | CD PLAYERS | NULL |
| ELECTRONICS | PORTABLE ELECTRONICS | 2 WAY RADIOS | NULL |
+-------------+----------------------+--------------+-------+
6 rows in set (0.00 sec)
检索所有叶子节点
我们可以用左连接(LEFT JOIN)来检索出树中所有叶子节点(没有孩子节点的节点):
SELECT t1.name FROM
category AS t1 LEFT JOIN category as t2
ON t1.category_id = t2.parent
WHERE t2.category_id IS NULL;
+--------------+
| name |
+--------------+
| TUBE |
| LCD |
| PLASMA |
| FLASH |
| CD PLAYERS |
| 2 WAY RADIOS |
+--------------+
为什么加where,不加where
检索单一路径
通过自连接,我们也可以检索出单一路径:
SELECT t1.name AS lev1, t2.name as lev2, t3.name as lev3, t4.name as lev4
FROM category AS t1
LEFT JOIN category AS t2 ON t2.parent = t1.category_id
LEFT JOIN category AS t3 ON t3.parent = t2.category_id
LEFT JOIN category AS t4 ON t4.parent = t3.category_id
WHERE t1.name = 'ELECTRONICS' AND t4.name = 'FLASH';
+-------------+----------------------+-------------+-------+
| lev1 | lev2 | lev3 | lev4 |
+-------------+----------------------+-------------+-------+
| ELECTRONICS | PORTABLE ELECTRONICS | MP3 PLAYERS | FLASH |
+-------------+----------------------+-------------+-------+
1 row in set (0