Re: Oracle 9i features?

Hans Forbrich wrote:

> AFAICT, there are 2 places that a computed field could be used - in the
> projection (select list) and in the selection (where clause). Would not
> Oracle's Function Based Indexes (FBI) handle the 'selection' requirement
> and simple expressions or views handle the 'projection' requirement?
> (Should be close - other than it isn't stored in the dictionary against
> the base table - which is probably against the relational rules anyway,
> isn't it?)
>
> <ASIDE>
> I've always had a problem with the traditional definition of 'base
> table'. IMO, when we do a 'create table' we create a storage definition
> and define an intrinsic view mapped directly to that storage
> definition. Using this argument, it's all views anyways, so creating
> another view on top should be acceptable.
> </ASIDE>

True, in this case it's about storage however. The idea is to avoid computation. There are two places to store values: indexes and tables. And also true that its breaking the relational vows (big time). But so are materialized views, and we all know they are a powerful tool in the box.
And as so often feature/function comparison falls on the face since different products adress nearly the same problem in different ways. Each valid within their scope.

Cheers
Serge

-- 
Serge Rielau
DB2 SQL Compiler Development
IBM Toronto Lab