Re: Demo: Modelling Cost of Travel Paths Between Towns

"Neo" <neo55592_at_hotmail.com> wrote in message news:4b45d3ad.0411230957.4168aef2_at_posting.google.com...
> Neo: With XDb2, no initial "schema" is required and
> "SELECT %.age & %.name=john;"
> works regardless of what things have to be represented later.
>
> Ed: Using ORACLE,
> SPOOL age.sql
> select 'select ''', ta.table_name, ''', AGE from ', ta.table_name,
> ' where name = ''JOHN'' ;'
> from user_tab_columns ta,
> user_tab_columns tb
> where ta.table_name=tb.table_name
> and ta.column_name = 'AGE'
> and ta.column_name <> tb.column_name
> and tb.column_name = 'NAME'
> /
> SPOOL OFF
> START age.sql
>
> > It finds every table (THING in neo-speak) accessable to the user
> > account that has columns named 'NAME' and 'AGE' and then produces a
> > report of the table name and the value of the age column for all rows
> > having a name of JOHN. AND the ORACLE query could easily be extended
> > to increment those ages. Since XDb2 cannot do even integer arithmetic,
> > I'd say RDBMS comes out ahead again. XDb2 treats everything as a
"THING".
> > and RDBMS treats everything as a "TABLE". Meta queries are possible in
both.
> > The XDb2 query is shorter, but not logically less complex. So I'm still
> > looking to see the big advantage in Xdb2. I haven't seen it yet.
>
> You are right, I don't see any advantages either. What does "logically
> less complex" mean? Does your solution handle the following cases
> without NULLs or redundancies:
>
> 1. Things with no name and multiple names.
> 2. Things with no age and multiple ages.
> 3. Things with no name or age.
> 4. Things with same name(s) and age(s).
> 5. Things with variable number of classifications (ie martian and
> plutonian).
>
> If the name "john" appears multiple times in one table and/or in other
> tables, would you consider the additional strings "john" to be
> duplicate/redundant/un-normalized? If not, how would RMDM add
> properties to a name (ie name's meaning, derivation, history) and
> which string "john" would you add it to and in which table? If the
> name of some aliens is an integer or a float, how will your system
> handle this? How would your system know that a name of an alien is
> also and integer, float, etc?
>
> If an alien's age is not specified in terms of integers but require
> words (and uses a math not built into ORACLE) how will your system
> handle this? (With XDb2 both integer and alien math have to be handled
> in code). And what if each age has a different property?
>
> If you prefer to allow NULLs, what values for name, age and
> classification will you use instead? And how will you handle the
> situation where a future alien has a name, age or classification
> designated for NULLs at design-time?
>
> Would your initial schema and query continue to work under above
> cases? If not, what changes would be required?

<sarcasm on>

Congratulations!!!!! You have managed to answer the age old question, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

Ok, how would Xdb2 handle these questions:

What if there were no rhetorical questions? Are we there yet?
If Alice does not fall down the rabbit hole, can Dorothy get back to Kansas? Suppose an alien came and took Neo away. Is Neo coming back? If an alien decides to rename red to green, green to yellow, and yellow to red, what color is inside a refrigerator? There once was a man name Bright, who could travel faster than light. If he went out one day in a "realtive" way, did he come back the previous night? Is the statement, "I think, therefore I am" a)true, b)not true, or, c)if I don't know, how can I ask?

<sarcasm off>

The point is, it is very easy to create imaginary scenarios having nothing to do with reality that can or cannot be solved by a given solution (in this case DB system or model). It ultimately proves absolutely null, er, I mean nothing. I think. Received on Tue Nov 23 2004 - 19:33:40 CET