Re: Impossible Database Design?

Jay Dee wrote:
> -CELKO- wrote:
>

>> I cannot shake Zeno's paradoxes which occur with a discrete model of
>> time.

ISTM Zeno mixes discrete and continuus time: The first time-point has the size of the time the hare needs to run the distance of the tortoises headstart, the second is the time the hare needs to run the distance the tortoise ran in the first time point, etc.

> And I thought the concept of concrete
> mathematics bridged the gap for those of us who, because we use
> computers as general-purpose tools, have to work in the discrete world.

[snip]

> Regarding domains: the question, "Is absorption a property of some value
> in the domain?" must be answered depending on what the domain is and how
> it can reasonably be represented.

I do not understand this. What do you mean wtih absorbtion in this context (reference welcome)?.

> If, as someone else said in this
> thread, "all time intervals have a starting point but they may not
> always end" (Or something to that effect. Seems strange to me, but...)
> one may want to use something they call NULL to represent the end of
> time which will never occur. Then, next(NULL) = NULL and infinity has
> been represented. The question, "What does previous(NULL) give me?" is
> up to the domain modeler. If he thinks he can put a date/time stamp
> on the instant before a time which will never come: go for it!
>
> DD+L were also very careful about the types of intervals for which
> their approach worked. And that's not all; there was more.
>
> Overall, I believe they carefully qualified the techniques they
> described -- so well, in fact, that your misunderstandings indicate
> that you aren't very familiar with the material.

Hey, not everybody reads everything. If it's relevant to you, just give a few examples so we can all get familiar with concepts important to you. Received on Sat May 20 2006 - 12:50:53 CEST