Re: Database design

x schrieb:
> "Alexandr Savinov" <spam_at_conceptoriented.com> wrote in message
> news:43f9ec1d$1_at_news.fhg.de...

>> Roy Hann schrieb:

>>> I think you are reading something that was never written.  The phrase

>>> was written was "a relational database, with its flat tables".

>> Yes, I misinterpreted that statement. Anyway, qualifying tables as
>> having a flat structure is not far from truth.

So what is non-flat in tables? I mean tables defined as consisting of a sequence of columns and a set of rows. Do not add links and other information that can be stored in its cells. Where do you see depth in a table, multiple levels or whatever that can be associated with a non-flat structure?

I think that one table taken in isolation can be well be thought of as having a flat structure. With multiple tables we can already create something more complex. In this sense a table is an elementary building block for creating various constructions (including RM). Of course, in different theories it acquires different forms and features but still it has a flat structure. I understand that "flat" is very information term but for some reason it is considered as a negative characteristics. For a theory or model it is probably so. However, for an elementary building block being characterized as flat is not a negative property.

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