Re: Key attributes with list values was Re: What are the differences ...KEY

From: Brian Selzer <brian_at_selzer-software.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 18:34:57 GMT
Message-ID: <lDHMf.15535$rL5.10181_at_newssvr27.news.prodigy.net>


You know...I was just trying to illustrate a point, and for brevity used a minimal example. The limitation I'm trying to illustrate applies to all tables that have only mutable keys. Tearing apart the example doesn't accomplish anything except proving either that you don't have the mental capacity to understand what I'm trying to point out; that you do understand, but don't have a good response and feel the need to bloviate; or that I'm right and you're too stubborn to acknowledge it. I think the condition is called "foot-in-mouth disease."

"Marshall Spight" <marshall.spight_at_gmail.com> wrote in message news:1141059804.032864.75670_at_e56g2000cwe.googlegroups.com...
> Anith Sen wrote:
>>
>> With those propositions, how do you make sure that the DBMS is aware of
>> the
>> fact that Jane Harper and Jane Smith are the same entity?
>
> With those propositions, you can't, of course. Declaring name as the
> key is declaring that two people with the same name *are* the same
> person. Or perhaps more accurately, a table with person-names
> as the key is a table of names, not a table of people. Since names
> can't have a marital status, trying to map the table's attributes
> back to the real world breaks down.
>
>
> Marshall
>
Received on Mon Feb 27 2006 - 19:34:57 CET

Original text of this message