Re: Database design, Keys and some other things

mAsterdam wrote:
> Marshall Spight wrote:
> >>
> >>There is an important difference. Unless we are talking about
> >>that specific "*some*" database, the VIN is /not/ a surrogate key in
> >>the database at hand.
> >
> > So you are saying that whether something is a surrogate key
> > or not is determined within the context of a specific database?
>
> Just as the key-ness of something is.
> Is column x a key for table y?
> The question only makes sense within the context
> of a specific database.

Okay. It strikes me, though, that this leads directly to a refutation of the idea that there's any essential difference between the industry standard external identifier and the database-specific surrogate key: it's a matter of context merely, and not anything intrinsic to that data, or how it is managed.

Marshall Received on Sat Oct 01 2005 - 09:52:31 CDT