Data Shaping

From: Shaun McCarthy <shaunm_at_web.co.nz>
Date: 8 Oct 2001 15:08:45 -0700
Message-ID: <ae94d5fc.0110081408.3c61e06a@posting.google.com>

(sorry if this posts multple times - Google Groups is quite erratic at the moment)

Are there any other database interfaces / databases that support the idea of Data Shaping (that is, hierarchical record sets eg: http://www.4guysfromrolla.com/webtech/092599-1.shtml - sorry for the use of a Microssoft term, I just don't know the name outside of it)

Microsoft's ADO driver (MSShape) allows you to return a result set that has child record sets, preventing the need of having multiple returned rows with the same information.

e.g: Consider a relationship between a order (order_id, order_date) and lines on that order (order_id, item, quantity). A simple join will return all the items in the order table, with the order information. However, this order information is repeated for each line of the order. Data Shaping allows for each order to be retrieved and the order_lines matching that order as a child. This can lead to efficiency gains (if done correctly) and a better structure (ideally suited for XML/XSLT).

Thanks,
Shaun McCarthy Received on Mon Oct 08 2001 - 17:08:45 CDT