Re: tracking shipments, inventory

Alan:

"Alan" <alan_at_erols.com> wrote in message news:3308ssF3r0aa7U1_at_individual.net...
>
> "-CELKO-" <jcelko212_at_earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:1103816103.977166.198250_at_z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> > Also, in RDBMS, rows are not records, columns are not fields and tables
> > are not files. Thre are no parent and child tables (those are older
> > navigational database terms); we have referenced and referencing
> > tables.
> >
>
> Joe,
>
> Do you ever feel like you are tilting at windmills on this? Surely you
must
> feel outnumbered. I base this solely on the number of times you must try
to
> correct posters on the usage. I am not saying you are wrong, because you
are
> not, but here is the problem: A column is a field once it gets on a (GUI)
> form. A row is essentially a logical (logical assemblage of information
into
> a) record to most "humans". Parent and child tables are terms that are
easy
> to understand, and often enough correctly describe the realtionship. IOW,
> people _like_ these terms. Historically, the terms people like win out
over
> the "correct" ones. Example: Disembark instead of Debark. Pronounciation
of
> "Escapee" as "eh-SCAPE-ee" instead of the correct "ESS-kah-pee". Soon, I
> suspect we will have to recognize "irregardless" regardless of the fact
that
> it ain't(!) a word. I competely agree with the use of table instead of
file,
> unless you are talking about an xBase implementation, in which case they
> unfortunately coincide. My manager refers to an Oracle table as a "file"
and
> it drives me nuts.

Considering your insightful comments above you probably already know the word "file" had meaning long before computer geeks got their hands on English. In the administrative world "files" meant that handy collation that contained like pieces of paper (documents with generally the same meaning, like job application forms, inventory purchase forms, check forms, etc). Recently, although predating computers by quite a number of years, that brown, heavy paper, folder was designed to use as the collation, and named the "file" folder...hence "files". "Say, Smith, go get me that file on new employees." or "Jones, here's the file on that insurance claim. (I use these two examples to give an idea of how a dbms can come in quite handy).

A table, on the other hand, is what most civilized people eat off of, or we put our stuff onto when we come home, or whatever. Only a techno-geek would look at a table as a collation, or container (ignoring all other better suited words), instead of what a container already is defined as (something that holds food in the refrigerator). :-)

So, in this technology age we live, it's no wonder there is misunderstanding and ambiguity in the language...it was created by technologists who don't know what they're talking about (of course I'm included). :-)

Bill Received on Fri Dec 24 2004 - 13:09:00 CET