Re: The fable of DEMETRIUS, CONSTRAINTICUS, and AUTOMATICUS

"Laconic2" <laconic2_at_comcast.net> wrote in message news:GrWdnaxkX5hDneTcRVn-rg_at_comcast.com...
>
> "Marshall Spight" <mspight_at_dnai.com> wrote in message
> news:EPZdd.293253$D%.166424_at_attbi_s51...
> >
> > It seems to me that DDL must at all times be considered simply
> > as a shortcut for doing DML on the catalog.
> >
> Not quite.
>
> When CREATE TABLE gets executed, two things get done:
>
> First, the table gets created.
> Second, the catalog gets updated to reflect the existence of the table.
>
> Each of these steps is inconsistent without the other.
>
> If I simply did DML on the catalog, the first step would not be done.

Are you arguing that that's how it is often done, or that that's how it *ought* to be done?

As far as how it *ought* to be done, I claim the catalog should be the definitive source of truth, and the DDL should be syntactic sugar for manipulating the catalog. It's conceptually simpler that way.

Marshall Received on Sat Oct 23 2004 - 19:47:52 CEST