Re: object algebra

> I'm still trying to figure out what you mean by normalization. You've
> said something about atomic symbols, but I still don't have a procedure
> to determine whether a design is normalized in your eyes or not.

Normalization: The process of replacing duplicates things with a reference to the original thing.

For example, given "john isa person" and "john obeys army", one observes that the "john" in the second sentence is a duplicate of "john" in the first sentence. Using the means provided by your system, the second sentence should be stored as "->john obeys army".

Another example, given "bob" one observes that the second "b" is a duplicate of the first "b" and therefore should be normalized as "bo->b". I don't want you to normalized this far, even though Ex076 is.

The exact method of normalization and to what extent is practical is dependent on the data model and its implementation.

> In any event, the point of normalization is take data in one form and
> turn it into equivalent data in a different form that has some specific
> qualities.

Maybe it is in RDM, but not in TDM. In TDM, the point of normalization is to provide better manangement of things, especially avoiding update anamolies.

> Can you give me an example of some problem with my
> model that is not also a problem with your version?

For one, if I change the spelling of "john" to "johnny" no problems occur. If you change one of the "john"s to "johhny" the data becomes corrupt. Received on Sat Feb 28 2004 - 07:25:21 CET