Re: Generalised approach to storing address details

From: paul c <toledobythesea_at_oohay.ac>
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2006 03:08:33 GMT
Message-ID: <RSKeh.451749$1T2.292593@pd7urf2no>

Neo wrote:

>>... it has been established that [EAV] breaks the Information Principle.

>
>

>>From prior posts, the definition of the Information Principle seems to

> be: The entire information content of a relational database is
> represented in one and only one way: namely, as attribute values within
> tuples within relations.
> ...

My impression has been that the IP transcends the relational model, in that it requires that what a system allows a user to see is all that a user needs to predict what the system might do, ie., it doesn't demand attributes and tuples per se in order to do that. I'd say that any data model besides the well-described relational one (not that I'm suggesting another one) would be right to follow the IP, otherwise it is hiding information which seems crazy to me. That way people don't have to memorize what a particular product does under such and such a circumstance, which would open the door for all the cuckoo arbitary behaviours that the products Codd was railing against.

p Received on Sat Dec 09 2006 - 21:08:33 CST