Re: Oracle and Visio
Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2002 15:16:33 GMT
Message-ID: <3D40160B.9F950126_at_exesolutions.com>
internetmaster wrote:
> Daniel Morgan wrote:
> > Charles wrote:
> >
> >
> >>On Tue, 23 Jul 2002 10:27:30 +0100, "Telemachus"
> >><telemachus_at_ulysseswillreturn.net> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>Yes.
> >>>But only if all the pk and RI and fk constraints are in place otherwise it
> >>>can only get what it can see.
> >>>
> >>
> >>I just used Visio on a legacy database. 60 or so tables and no fk/pk
> >>defined. All you get is a set of tables, not all that well organized.
> >>Not very usefull although it is a place to start.
> >
> >
> > Why would anyone have a relational database without primary key constraints?
> >
> > Legacy, I presume, does not mean before normalization was defined.
>
> We have an application at work which I won't name but will reveal the
> vendor's name -- Computer Associate.
>
> We want to expose the underlying Oracle database to a reporting tool and
> we asked them to send over a data model so we could understsand how the
> tables relate to one another. They sent over a lovely data model.
>
> The other day, I went into ERWin and reverse engineered the database and
> found that it actually doesn't have any keys or RI. I plan on calling
> CA next week.
>
> >
> > Daniel Morgan
> >
[Quoted] [Quoted] I'm not surprised. A surprisingly large number of commercial products do 100%, or virtually 100%, of their data integrity constraint through their front-end. And the horrible quality of the data they contain bears witness to this fact.
For me this is a show-stopper for two reasons:
- All it takes is one person with an ODBC connection and every integrity rule is violated.
- To make any substantive changes to the product you must pay their consulting division outrageous fees for even the most mundane changes.
I consider a product built on top of a relational database with integrity controlled by the front-end a no-sale. I have never recommended one for a client ... and never will.
Daniel Morgan Received on Thu Jul 25 2002 - 17:16:33 CEST