Re: Definition of 'shape'

Brian Peasland (oracle_dba_at_nospam.peasland.net) wrote:
: Geoff wrote:
: > Very odd that the word shape is used so much in the db world but the vendors
: > do not use it and it is not in the glossary of any oracle document. One
: > person said 'shape' can't be defined. Like I said, very strange that a word
: > that can't be defined is used so much in oracle app code. Java even has a
: > 'getHostVarShape' method.
: >
: > What is the definition of 'shape'?

: The only time I've seen "shape" used as a term, relating to database,
: has to do with spatial data. Spatial data are points, lines, or polygons
: that also have other attributes. Oracle's solution for spatial data is
: to employ Oracle Spatial. The largest vendor in the world for spatial
: software, ESRI, has their own products for implementing spatial data in
: the database. There are other vendors as well.

I think I've seen it for defining materialized views. If you predefine a table to hold a materialized view then it does not have to have the same definition as the original table or as the default materialized view that would otherwise be created. It has to have the same "shape".

The word shape is a good one, since the data has to fit into the container you have defined - i.e. it needs the right shape.

Interestingly, and perhaps no longer true and likely OT, sometimes you can't create a materialized view and the solution is to predefine a table that is slightly different than what you expect. It takes a little guess work to figure out what has to be done in that case, but in general terms you have to figure out a table definition with the right shape to hold the data. Received on Fri Apr 07 2006 - 18:33:00 CDT