Re: SQL99 - Nested Tables

I was mainly interested because of the simplicity it seems to add for
implementing an application using the database. While those accustomed to
writing SQL queries using joins and keys might prefer it for many
understandable reasons, there is something to be said for multidimensional
data structures. It would be like if you _had_ to have multiple arrays to
store information in C instead of using a multidimensional array.
I'm open to debate on the subject as I'd love to be convinced that Oracle is
wrong. I think the XML features are important and I'd be more suited writing
something more straight forward versus re-inventing the wheel. I brought it
up for debate, because I thought it was something that should be thought
about.
Darren Alcorn

On 7/7/05, Josh Berkus <josh(at)agliodbs(dot)com> wrote:
>
> Darren,
>
> > I was interested as to if there were plans to develop SQL99 nested
> > tables. I know with AJAX(tm) starting to grow in popularity that the
> > XML features of SQL2003 would prove useful for EnterpriseDB.
>
> I realize that nested tables are in SQL99, but so is SQLJ and a few other
> really dumb ideas. As Joe Celko (member of the SQL92 committee) put it,
> "we
> were a committee, and a committee never met a feature it didn't like."
>
> Can you make a use-case for nested tables? It would need to be a fairly
> strong one, given that they basically violate the relational model. If
> what
> you're really interested in is XML data support, then I'd suggest focusing
> on
> that instead.
>
> Of course, that's just my opinion.
>
> --
> Josh Berkus
> Aglio Database Solutions
> San Francisco
>