Re: Oracle #1? Then why are these still missing...

David Cressey <dcressey_at_valinet.com> wrote in message news:PTZn3.59926$AU3.1529008_at_news2.giganews.com...

snip

> Finally, take cascaded update and renaming columns. These are features I
> actively oppose. I regard it as a fundamental principle of data theory
that
> the identity of a data object is persistent, inseparable, and immutable
for
> the life of the object.

My fundamental principle of data theory is that a data object should accurately reflect the data it contains. Occasionally, this directly conflicts with your principle. Sometimes a column rename is desirable, and when it is desirable, it would be nice if Oracle helped out a bit.

> In the case of columns, it means they don't change
> names. In the case of rows, it means they don't change primary key
values.

In the RAF, their personnel are divided into Trades. We had a trade called Fireman. A few years ago, we were required by the Government to change it to Firefighter. It's part of the Primary Key. Primary Key values do change. Not often, but they do. Cascade Update would help.

> I find that systems built in conformance to this principle are generally
more
> robust and more maintainable.

Nope. Not that I recommend that people run around renaming columns and changing primary keys willy nilly!

> than systems that disregard this principle. So I would regard adding a
> column rename feature and a cascaded delete feature as a step in the wrong
> direction for an RDBMS. Again. it's up to the Oracle company to figure
out
> who they are going to satisfy.

I think they're coming along slowly. 'Drop Column' appeared in 8.1, and 'Cascade Update' code can be generated from Designer v2.0+. All I want now is a status bar in SQL*Plus telling me who I'm logged in as, and which database I'm logged into, and I'll be happy!

As someone else stated, we need to keep voting for what we want in the enhancement process.

Simon Hedges
Gloucester
UK Received on Thu Jul 29 1999 - 14:28:31 CDT