Re: Would be really nice if...

From: GreyBeard <Fuzzy.GreyBeard_at_gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 04:28:43 GMT
Message-Id: <pan.2005.02.24.05.29.16.669159@gmail.com>

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 03:05:17 +0000, Haximus wrote:

>> Oracle's heirarchical queries predated most of the standards.  It would be
>> silly for them to retract something after it's become popular.

>
> If you rely on such features and develop products with multi-vendor support
> in mind it's not a trivial thing, though I definitely prefer Oracle's syntax
> to the standard way. I also prefer not to have to type select lists of 97
> columns for a table that has 98... you can call me lazy, for that matter
> perhaps we should go back to keeping records on clay tablets, because all
> this modern technology stuff is really just rewarding the 'lazy' ;)

For most situations that I see where 'many but not all columns are required', I'd use any number of alternate techniques to help reduce typing. Visual query tools, extract scripts, cut & paste, and so on all come to mind.

On the other hand, I rarely find it necessary to have 50 columns in a table - except for warehouses - so I don't often run into that problem. And for warehouses, I generally use tools like Discoverer to make life simpler.

Besides, I find developing for multi-vendor environments is generally a waste of my time and my customer's money because of the compromises that are required. (Feel free to read chapters 1-3 of Thomas Kyte's books, as he puts into words what I've believed for years.) I simply do not accept contracts that require such compromises. C'est la vie.

FGB Received on Wed Feb 23 2005 - 22:28:43 CST