Re: pro- foreign key propaganda?

"Bob Badour" <bbadour_at_pei.sympatico.ca> wrote in message news:48371bef$0$4064$9a566e8b_at_news.aliant.net...
> David Cressey wrote:
> > "Bob Badour" <bbadour_at_pei.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
> > news:4836f382$0$4031$9a566e8b_at_news.aliant.net...
> >
> >>David Cressey wrote:
> >>
> >>>"paul c" <toledobysea_at_ac.ooyah> wrote in message
> >>>news:5RzZj.289321$pM4.276671_at_pd7urf1no...
> >>>
> >>>>David Cressey wrote:
> >>>>...
> >>>>
> >>>>>This may be true. But with regard to the value of data in databases,
and
> >>>>>the return on the effort involved in building, maintaining, and
accessing
> >>>>>them, you can't separate meaning from purpose. And you can't
separate
> >>>>>purpose from outcome. Call me a mystic, if you must.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>If poetry includes Homer's Iliad, there is quite a bit of mechanics
> >>>>>involved in the making of it.
> >>>>
> >>>>I don't argue with that and from what you've said I wouldn't call you
a
> >>>>mystic. I was scoffing at the penchant for looking for meaning in a
> >>>>data design where none was intended. If one doesn't know the intended
> >>>>interpretation, it is a mug's game to guess at it, the design is only
> >>>>capable of restricting some of the possible intentions.
> >>>>
> >>>>(I'd say the mechanics of poetry aren't part of what you call the
rdm.)
> >>>
> >>>Agreed. I just don't want poetry to be relegated to the domain
ofmystics,
> >>>and databases to be relegated to the domain of mechanics. Mechanics
are
> >>>important to doing things right, no matter what you're doing. Doing
things
> >>>right is kind of a waste, if you're not doing the right thing. And
figuring
> >>>out what the right thing is can seem downright mystical. At least,
soit
> >>>seems to me.
> >>
> >>I think it only seems that way before one knows what metrics to use.
> >>Once one understands what to measure, everything becomes much more
> >>mechanical.
> >
> > Well, how do you tell a good metric from a bad one?
>
> A good metric, like ROA, reflects the goal.

And how do you tell a good goal from a bad goal? Received on Fri May 23 2008 - 22:19:17 CEST