Inheritance (general hints wanted)

From: Achilleus Mantzios <achill(at)matrix(dot)gatewaynet(dot)com>
To: pgsql-sql(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Inheritance (general hints wanted)
Date: 2005-09-20 06:55:17
Message-ID: Pine.LNX.4.44.0509191721030.14057-100000@matrix.gatewaynet.com
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Hi,

I think i have reached a point in my PgSQL years
that i am seriously thinking of using inheritance.

The situation is simple: An new entity (tanker vessels crew)
is about to be modeled, and i suspect
there will be a future need to include
the rest of 'workers' besides 'sailors',
IOW i suspect a future need to generalize.

So i am thinking of a two-level tree hierarchy,
where there is a simple table emp (employee),
and a direct child 'tankerscrew'. Later
there may be 'masons', 'office_employees'
and so on.

The problem is that while i find this approach
attractive, i have never used PostgreSQL
inheritance exhaustively and in production scale.

Furthermore, i also feel that not many
people have used inheritance in a massive fashion
(besides playing with a test db).

Of course i can do it with separate uncoupled tables,
that can be later related with some views.

So that leads to the final question:
-What are the main PROs of inheritance that cant be beat
by other solutions, and
-Are there any traps someone must have in mind when he
prepares for such a design?

Thanx in advance.
--
-Achilleus

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