Re: dbdebunk 'Quote of Week' comment

From: x <x_at_not-exists.org>
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 11:15:24 +0300
Message-ID: <deug71$d21$1@domitilla.aioe.org>

"Marshall Spight" <marshall.spight_at_gmail.com> wrote in message news:1125074070.799079.80320_at_z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> x wrote:

> > This means that there must be a one to one mapping between the generated
key
> > and some key with a meaning for the end user. Therefore that meaningless
> > primary key is a pointer. But one of the goals of the relational model
is to
> > eliminate pointers from the data model.

> I'm not sure I share this point of view. I propose that
> every pointer is meaningless; every key is meaningful,
> whether system generated or not.

Meaningless for whom ?
Meaningful for whom ?

>The meaning is exactly
> that it is the identity of the row. A randomly-generated
> customer id still means something.

That customer_id is meaningful for the end-user even if it was once randomly-generated.
If it is randomly-generated every time some customer buy something, then it is not a customer_id. Received on Mon Aug 29 2005 - 03:15:24 CDT