Re: Should an application ever be allowed to change a schema?
Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2004 21:17:16 +0200
Message-ID: <408182bc$0$560$e4fe514c_at_news.xs4all.nl>
Karen Sundquist wrote:
> mAsterdam wrote:
>>Karen Sundquist wrote: >>>Imagine a database that is only accessed by a server application. >>...This effectively reduces the meaning of the word 'database' to >>'deluxe filesystem'. No problem, many use the word in that sense. >>The implication it is that part of the server application may be >>busy taking care of contraints which would have to be guarded by the >>dbms if there would be other applications. Typically, developers >>*will* implement some of the more complicated contraints in >>the server application. This severely limits the chance of the >>data ever being shared. 'Import' and 'export' facilities >>become crucial to the success of the application.
>
> I don't understand your deduction that a database accessed only by
> server applications is no longer a database or that constraints cannot
> be included is such a database. Is it because, the actual users are
> hidden from the database, so user level privileges must be looked
> after by the application?
No, not at all.
In writing there is only a small
difference between the singular 'a server
application' from your first post, and the plural
'server applications' from your second post.
However, to your architecture it matters a lot.
In the singular case you can protect your data wherever
you see fit. In the plural case you had better put all
constraints which protect your data in the database.
A few weeks ago there
was a thread about the redundancy in the constraint
specification caused by this.
> As you know, many databases these days are accessed directly only by
> the superuser and by a number of middleware server applications that
> marshal end user queries. Data is shared by these separate
> applications. Critical constraints are included in the database that
> are common to all users of the data. The middleware applications may
> impose their own local constraints which are not critical to the
> integrity of the data.
Who is responsible for the constraints imposed by the middleware?
Which data do these constraints protect?
Why would middleware protect data?
My take is:
Use the middleware to store and forward messages.
That is what it is designed for.
Received on Sat Apr 17 2004 - 21:17:16 CEST