Re: Column naming convention good or bad?

MSherrill_at_compuserve.com wrote:

>On Sun, 19 Nov 2000 06:18:14 GMT, genew_at_shuswap.net (Gene Wirchenko)
>wrote:
>
>>MSherrill_at_compuserve.com wrote:
>>
>>>On Thu, 16 Nov 2000 20:34:39 GMT, spamfilter_at_rosinowski.de (Jan-Erik
>>>Rosinowski) wrote:
>>>
>>>>if you change a type from int to long (i.e. i32->i64) your clientsw
>>>>will break anyway if you don't change it
>>
>> Yes.
>
>It's probably more accurate to say that client software that's
>designed <cough> to break when an underlying data type changes from
>integer to long will break when an underlying data type changes from
>integer to long. Client software that's designed to withstand such a
>change will withstand such a change.

     At some point, there is a programming change. When I modify a table's structure, I sometimes have to modify the DE form because of length and positioning of fields. It isn't 100% automatic and it can't be because it depends partially on esthetics. Some table changes result in other changes.

>>>"Select EmployeeID From Employees;" breaks if you change EmployeeID
>>>from int to long?
>>
>> Possible. C has different format specifications for these two.
>
>The SQL statement won't break if you change the data type. (There's a
>lesson there. There there.) Is your point that no client software
>written in C can survive changing a column type from integer to long
>integer on a server database?

     No. Different code will be being executed. Are you going to skip testing?

     The SQL statement doesn't have to deal with all of the aspects. The ones that it doesn't deal with aren't necessarily so amenable to being hidden away. Display of data comes to mind.

>Think about abstract data types. Think about a browser. Think about
>perl's DBI module. Think about data independence.

     I'm trying to think about a data independent database management system and I find it hard to do so.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

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