Re: Relation subset operators

From: Bob Badour <bbadour_at_pei.sympatico.ca>
Date: Sat, 06 Jun 2009 11:57:13 -0300
Message-ID: <4a2a8367$0$23748$9a566e8b_at_news.aliant.net>


paul c wrote:

> Walter Mitty wrote:
> ...
>

>> Here's an attempt in Spanish
>>
>> "Si el conjunto de autos morados fuese un conjunto vacío,
>> entonces ningun vendedor no podría vender auto morado alguno
>> (nisiquiera uno) de tal modo que todos los vendedores
>> los han vendido todos. "
>>
>> It sounds equally absurd to me.  I'm not sure it's right.
>> Note the double negative, and the use of a subjunctive.
>> ...

>
> Thanks. Good observations, one could say such queries are indeed
> subjunctive (maybe all queries are), here's Date's SQL for "Get
> suppliers who supply all purple parts":
>
> SELECT DISTINCT s.*
> FROM S AS s
> WHERE NOT EXISTS
> ( SELECT DISTINCT p.*
> FROM P AS p
> WHERE p.COLOR = 'Purple'
> AND NOT EXISTS
> ( SELECT DISTINCT sp.*
> FROM SP AS p
> WHERE s.S# = sp.S#
> AND sp.P# = p.P# ) ).
>
> If I'm not mistaken the answer is that all suppliers supply no purple
> parts. Just a consequence of FOPC.
>
>> A guy walks into a coffee shop, and orders a coffee without cream.
>> The server says, "we're all out of cream today."
>> "In that case," the guy responds, "I'll have a cup of coffee without 
>> milk."

>
> You might've hit the nail on the head (which the SQL accomplishes rather
> extravagantly by using a wrench instead of a hammer). They did that
> joke in a Marlene Dietrich movie, cafe scene where the guy hustling her
> and the (French) waiter can't take their eyes off her. Hustler asks for
> coffee with no cream. Waiter says there is no cream, would coffee with
> no milk do? So the coffee was the same, no matter whether it had no
> cream or no milk. Perhaps a viewpoint that life is subjunctive is the
> first baby step for escape from mysticism..

If you want subjunctive in English, you have to go with Tevye:

"If I were a rich man, ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum. All day long I'd biddy biddy bum. If I were a weathy man, I wouldn't have to work hard. Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum. If I were a rich, Yiddle-diddle-didle-didle man."

And if you want reflexive, you have to avail yourself of whatever you can find. Received on Sat Jun 06 2009 - 16:57:13 CEST

Original text of this message