Re: Noninferential vs. inferential DBMS

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"Paul" <paul_at_test.com> wrote in message news:ew4pc.4191$NK4.363507_at_stones.force9.net...
> x wrote:
> >>For example, suppose you have an employee table, you could get out of it
> >>that "Fred Smith has empid=123, works in dept 10 and has a salary of
> >>10,000". But you wouldn't be able to ask "Is there an employee called
> >>Fred Smith?
> >
> > Inferential DBMS means there are some inferences carried out by the
DBMS.
> > So a non-inferential DBMS won't carry out any inferences.
>
> So if my database stores the proposition:
> "Fred Smith has empid=123, works in dept 10 and has a salary of 10,000"
>
> I can infer the proposition:
> "Fred Smith has empid=123 and works in dept 10"
>
> I suppose this inference is really done by the DBA in some sense,
> because for all the DBMS knows, the query could mean:
> "Fred Smith is age 123 and has shoes that are size 10"
>
> Is this the kind of inference you mean?
> Inferring the real-world *meaning* of the data?

No. I mean automated logical inferences performed by the DBMS.

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