Re: SQL for presentation

> > At this forum, it is often claimed that almost all kind of data
> > transformation could be done using SQL select statements.
>
> Many of us think SQL should be abandoned entirely so I am not quite sure
> where you got that idea.

Ok, any declarative language based on relational calculus. Better?

> > In web applications, the presentation - HTML - is a data structure. If
> > select statements could make almost any kind of data transformation,
> > why couldn't we use select statements to produce the HTML text?
>
> Relations state facts. That is not to say that relations state the same
> facts in any arbitrary structure or with any arbitrary formatting.

Couldn't relations also that facts about a GUI?

> I see a
> > problem in the fact that HTML is hierachial and select statements
> > doesn't seem suitable for returning hierachial results. But what if a
> > relational version of HTML existed, would the select statement be
> > suitable for buildning the GUI too?
>
> If you are asking whether one could devise a relational schema to
> describe a document or user interface, the answer is obviously yes.

If a relational schema could describe a html document, why couldn't a declarative relational language be used to derive that document from other data? Why do we have to use imperative languages to build a html document?

Fredrik Bertilsson Received on Wed Jul 05 2006 - 14:33:49 CDT