Re: Evaluation of DBMS Engines

In article <CA9uqy.3H5_at_news.cis.umn.edu> westrich_at_bingo.ncc.umn.edu () writes:
>START OF QUESTIONS
>
>Does the absence of declarative referential integrity in eg. Sybase
>and SQLBASE (and the resulting need to use triggers to enforce RI)
>lead to difficulty in implementing and/or maintaining RI? What CASE
>tools (e.g. Bachman) are available to assist in this?

Sybase SQL-Server System 10 implements limited declarative referential integrity support (foreign key insert/update restrictive, if I remember correctly).  

>How easy is it in practice to have a table column that has
>auto-sequenced numbers (e.g. part numbers). Oracle and Rdb support
>such a feature. Do the other engines have a workaround for doing
>this? It is ok if some numbers are missing, as long as the numbers
>are unique within a table (i.e. 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, is ok).

Also in System 10. I do not know the full level of implementation however.

>How important are backward scrolling cursors? (as not all engines
>support them).
>
>How useful is the ability to retrieve more than one column in a
>subquery? (Oracle supports this, Sybase does not)

Again, System 10 provides cursor support - I do not not to what degree.

>In practice, how much performance is gained by using stored procedures
>to minimize network traffic?

In general, a 20% performance increase is the number used to quantify the benefit of using stored proc's instead of ad hoc query text. That is at the server, however. Network performance gain will depend on how much text your stored proc is replacing.  

>Thanks in advance for all replys.

You're welcome. For more info on System 10 you can contact a sales representative in your area.

Cheers,
Howie
Sybase Professional Services
Bethesda, Maryland Received on Mon Jul 19 1993 - 17:28:28 CEST