Re: Terminology question

pamelafluente_at_libero.it wrote:
> Hi.
>
> I need to give a name to some categories of objects in a program. Name
> must be clear to the user and possibly 1 word.
>
> o1 = Database --> "database"
> o2 = Connection to a Database (connection string + login info) -->
> "connection"
> o3 = Connection to Database + SQL/custom program to extract data
> --> "??"
>
> Question.
>
> What is the best name for o3. I wanted to call it a "datasource", but
> some people are arguing that "datasource" is usually the same as
> database.

In ODBC (and JDBC) terminology, a data source (or data source name = DSN) is one way of referring to a specific database (there might be other DSNs that also refer to the same database). Given a DSN, you can establish a connection to it.

So, those arguing with your choice of name have some logic on their side.

> What is your suggestion for a clear and meaningful naming of these
> objects ?

o1 is OK.

o2 should perhaps be 'connection information'; you don't have an actual connection until a process uses o2 to connect to a database.

For o3, what about 'process'? A process is an invocation of a program that can, therefore, establish a connection to a database using the connection information.

-- 
Jonathan Leffler                   #include <disclaimer.h>
Email: jleffler_at_earthlink.net, jleffler_at_us.ibm.com
Guardian of DBD::Informix v2005.02 -- http://dbi.perl.org/