Re: Definition of 'Relational' Database

unknown <nobody_at_blackhole.nospam.com> wrote in message news:<pan.2002.09.07.21.36.00.185416.1835_at_blackhole.nospam.com>...
> On Sat, 07 Sep 2002 21:21:53 +0200, vk02720 wrote:
>
> > Why exactly is a Relational DBMS called "Relational" ?
> >
> > TIA
>
> A not-too-long-winded answer would be something along these lines:
>
> In an RDBMS the tables (that hold data as opposed to the database that
> holds tables) often have a certain relationship. If you look at an
> old-fashioned entity relationship diagram you can easily spot the
> relation by looking at how the tables have been wired together using
> keys.

"Relationships" amongst entities are there in other databases as well - The Hierarchical model and the Network model. They are just implemented differently - by using 'pointers' in one entity pointing to the other entity. Received on Sun Sep 08 2002 - 22:13:41 CEST