Re: User Defined Fields - HELP PLEASE!

"DA Morgan" <damorgan_at_x.washington.edu> wrote in message news:1109098087.647294_at_yasure...
> Mark D Powell wrote:
> > I will take a contrary view. If the user wants user defined columns
> > then perhaps he or she should have them.
> >
> > There are applications on the market that are built to allow the user
> > to define their own columns along with the vendor provided columns.
> > One such product is MAXIMO, which is primarily an equipment maintenance
> > planning and tracking system.
> >
> > HTH -- Mark D Powell --
>
> I'll match your bid and raise you one.
>
> Let the users choke.
>
> Databases should be designed and built by professionals of which even
> our industry suffers too many fools. End users defining columns almost
> by definition means a lack of data integrity. It certainly means a lack
> of proper indexing, and MAXIMO is a horrifying mess generally
> implemented by large government agencies that know less about software
> than they do about balancing budgets.
> --
> Daniel A. Morgan
> University of Washington
> damorgan_at_x.washington.edu
> (replace 'x' with 'u' to respond)

I feel it is our responsibility, as DBAs, to, at minimum, warn against bad design. Sometimes it's a losing battle, but at least you tried. Received on Tue Feb 22 2005 - 20:49:04 CET