How to update remote databases???

Hi,

I am currently dealing with a systems development firm which is writing a remote database update utility for us. Our customers will subscribe to our database and will be receiving periodic updates. This utility will take an ASCII text file and apply the information contained within to the database using ANSI SQL 92 compliant code. The remote databases will mostly be Oracle, but may include other platforms such as Sybase or Informix, thus, our need for a platform-independent mechanism.

These updates could consist of thousands of rows of data. The project leader from the development firm wants to attempt to perform this update as a single transaction, requiring a rollback segment which is large enough to handle it. He has not provided me with any sound reasoning for designing the system in this manner.

I believe that the update utility should create smaller transactions because:

1. We may have no control over the configuration of the customer's database and a large rollback segment is an unreasonable request
2. I have not worked with Sybase or Informix and do not know how they implement their rollback capabilities
3. This manner of update seems rather unorthodox and I am not willing to release it to our customers

Am I missing something or may I continue to blast the project leader and insist it be designed differently?

Any comments you have supporting either opinion would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Rick

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Rick Stacy
Scientific Database Engineer
AlphaGene, Inc.
Email:rstacy_at_alphagene.com