How to set up a variable 2d array in a database?

How would you set up a variable 2d array in a database?

My problem visualizing the setup for this may be because I have quite a bit of experience with Microsoft Excel using "lookup" functions and I'm just starting out with databases.

In excel you can have a table (x, y) with x columns and y rows. The number of columns (x) and rows (y) may vary from table to table.

How would I set up something like this in a database? Do I need to create a separate table for every widget? There will be MANY widgets so creating a separate table seems cumbersome.

Using an example table composed of WIDGETS. I want to be able to lookup the number of bolts each widget has. The number of bolts depends on x and y. The 2 widgets below would belong to the WIDGETS table, but you can see each widgets 2d array varies in size. The goal (for example) would be to lookup Widget 1, with a "y" value of 'B' and an "x" value of '5'.

WIDGET #1
-------------A-----B-----C-----D
2 wheels----4-----8----10----16
5 wheels----8----10----10----18
8 wheels----9----10----10----n/a

WIDGET #2
-------------A-----B-----C
2 wheels----3-----4-----5
4 wheels----5-----6-----7
6 wheels----7-----8-----9

 

TABLE "widgets"

widget_id, widget_name


TABLE "bolts"

id, widget_id, x, y, number_of_bolts


Using your example it would look like this:

[b]widget_id[/b]	[b]widget_name[/b]
1		widget #1
2		widget #2


[b]id[/b]		[b]widget_id[/b]	[b]x[/b]	[b]y[/b]	[b]number_of_bolts[/b]
1		1		2	A	4
2		1		2	B	8
3		1		2	C	10
...

Code (markup):

"SELECT number_of_bolts FROM bolts WHERE widget_id = 1 AND y = 'B' AND x = 5"