robf@squid.rtech.com (Robert Fair (ECSC Tech Support)) (11/10/89)
Recent posters have commented about the lack of array/vector datatypes in RDBMS currently available. This is actually an *implementation* restriction rather than an inherent drawback of RDBMS or SQL. There's no reason why an RDBMS cannot support an arry/vector datatype, in fact (plug coming) INGRES just announced a new "Object Management" extension to INGRES R6 which allows you to create pretty much any kind of datatype you like, including arrays and vectors. You can also create operators and functions to work with these datatypes - for example if you want (vector + vector) to work a specific way just define the appropriate operations for '+'. Once a datatype/operators/functions has been defined you can access it through SQL just like any regular "built-in" datatype. Robert Fair Ingres Corperation Technical Support INGRES and INGRES Object Management are trademarks of Ingres Corperation
john@anasaz.UUCP (John Moore) (11/10/89)
In article <4022@rtech.rtech.com> robf@squid.UUCP (Robert Fair (ECSC Tech Support)) writes:
]Recent posters have commented about the lack of array/vector datatypes
]in RDBMS currently available. This is actually an *implementation*
]restriction rather than an inherent drawback of RDBMS or SQL.
]
]There's no reason why an RDBMS cannot support an arry/vector datatype,
]in fact (plug coming) INGRES just announced a new "Object Management"
]extension to INGRES R6 which allows you to create pretty much any kind
]of datatype you like, including arrays and vectors. You can also create
]operators and functions to work with these datatypes - for example if
]you want (vector + vector) to work a specific way just define the
]appropriate operations for '+'. Once a datatype/operators/functions
]has been defined you can access it through SQL just like any regular
]"built-in" datatype.
This sounds great! Now, when can we get it into a standard so that I
can write an application using it and not be forever beholden to the
vendor of that particular flavor of OODBMS?
--
John Moore (NJ7E) mcdphx!anasaz!john asuvax!anasaz!john
(602) 861-7607 (day or eve) long palladium, short petroleum
7525 Clearwater Pkwy, Scottsdale, AZ 85253
The 2nd amendment is about military weapons, NOT JUST hunting weapons!jbrown@herron.uucp (Jordan Brown) (11/12/89)
Relations with arrays (or other composite data types) are not normalized, by my reading of Date's "Introduction to Database Systems, vol I" (pg 243). "At every row and column position within the table, there always exists precisely one value, never a set of values." -- Jordan Brown jbrown@jato.jpl.nasa.gov