wise words indeed.
--
Niall Litchfield
Oracle DBA
Audit Commission UK
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Please include version and platform
and SQL where applicable
It makes life easier and increases the
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"David Cressey" <david_at_dcressey.com> wrote in message
news:Zlvf8.12$wz.1209_at_petpeeve.ziplink.net...
> Niall,
>
> > It looks to me as if an xml document system maybe the way to go since
that
> > allows documents (which I'll call here objects) to self describe. That
is
> > the object itself can tell the app how to read it. This object/attribute
> > approach does not really work very well with the relational model as
> others
> > have already said.
>
> You may well be right. XML could be the right tool, as long as it is used
> properly.
>
> But if people begin using xml in a way that blurs the distinction between
> metadata and data,
> they may end up with documents that are "self describing" only when the
xml
> rules are supplemented by some kind of private understanding between the
> author and the reader. That necessity for a private understanding is what
> eventually causes a breakdown in intelligibility.
>
> But this issue is not well understood, even by many in the profession.
And
> I think it's the reason why so many non relational designs are stored in
> relational databases.
>
>
>
> --
> Regards,
> David Cressey
> www.dcressey.com
>
>
>
Received on Fri Mar 01 2002 - 03:30:59 CST
