Posted by Erland Sommarskog on 12/10/05 12:37

--CELKO-- (jcelko212@earthlink.net) writes:
> Perhaps the problem is that you are trying to destroy the very
> foundation of RDBMS by mixing data and metadata in the schema?
>
> Let's get back to the basics of an RDBMS. Rows are not records; fields
> are not columns; tables are not files. You use the wrong words BECAUSE
> you have the wrong mental model.
>
> Read a book that will teach you about normalization, RDBMS, and data
> modeling. You are not going to get this in a Newsgroup -- you need a
> year or more of education.

So when you come to a site, and the user ask you for a report like this,
do you tell them that they have the wrong mental model, and they should
learn about RDMBS? How long does it then take before that customer cancels
the contract with you.

There is a lot of things out there that users need, that does not align
with the theory of the relational models, and I can tell you these users
does give a single damn about relational theory. They want data and reports
so that they make business, and how this data is produced is immaterial
to them. It is our task as IT craftsmen to produce that data (because these
are typically the guys that pays us, so we can ger bread on the table).

There is absolute no excuse for insulting people, just because they are
looking into solve business problems. Go and dig yourself under a rock.

--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, esquel@sommarskog.se

Books Online for SQL Server 2005 at
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/downloads/books.mspx
Books Online for SQL Server 2000 at
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/previousversions/books.mspx

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