Re: sql limitation?

rhairgroveNoSpam_at_Pleasebigfoot.com (Bob Hairgrove) wrote in message news:<3be51a09.91358546_at_news.webshuttle.ch>...
> On Sun, 04 Nov 2001 03:34:55 GMT, "Jim Kennedy"
> <kennedy-family_at_home.com> wrote:
>
> >Bob is correct. However, what Emmanuel might mean is I want the salesman
> >with the 10th highest commission last month type of query.
> >Jim
> >(snip)<
>
> That's different ... and who knows where that salesman might reside
> *within the table*, especially if there are more selection criteria
> (i.e. "last month")? The question was specific about selecting the
> 10th row from a table.
>
> The trouble is, usually, that developers with no relational experience
> tend to rely on the natural (physical) order of records in storage
> because that's how they are used to manipulating flat files. It might
> even work for awhile, but they need to know that it's dangerous to do
> this in a RDBMS.
>
> Of course, it's often necessary to select the Nth elementin an ordered
> set, so the next step will be for the OP to ask "so how is this done
> relationally"?

and its done relationally when people think "what is the criteria that put my 10th row at position 1" and retrieve this one !

Chris

>
> Bob Hairgrove
> rhairgroveNoSpam_at_Pleasebigfoot.com
Received on Wed Nov 07 2001 - 01:22:38 CET