Thread: Writing apps for ORDBMS

Writing apps for ORDBMS

From
"Aurangzeb M. Agha"
Date:
Is there a white-paper or something out there on how to write apps which
take advantage of the object-relational features of ORDBMS's?

I'm using PostgreSQL right now, but I'm using it as a relational DB,
meaning that I'm not taking advantage of, to my knowledge, any of the
object capabilities of the DB.

I've looked at techdocs but not found anything to my liking.

    Thx,
    Aurangzeb

--
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                     | Home  : +3 010 8959.558
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 temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

                    - Benjamin Franklin

Re: Writing apps for ORDBMS

From
Justin Clift
Date:
Aurangzeb M. Agha wrote:
> Is there a white-paper or something out there on how to write apps which
> take advantage of the object-relational features of ORDBMS's?
>
> I'm using PostgreSQL right now, but I'm using it as a relational DB,
> meaning that I'm not taking advantage of, to my knowledge, any of the
> object capabilities of the DB.
>
> I've looked at techdocs but not found anything to my liking.

Of course, if someone wants to write something on this topic to help
people, we'd be happy to have it on the Techdocs site.

:-)

Regards and best wishes,

Justin Clift


>     Thx,
>     Aurangzeb
>


--
"My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people: those
who work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the
first group; there was less competition there."
- Indira Gandhi


Re: Writing apps for ORDBMS

From
elein
Date:
This is the primary topic of my book in progress.  (Don't
hold your breath, but I'm working on it...)

I also recommend "The Plumber's Guide" by Paul Brown,
however all of the syntax comes from the informix 9 implementation
of ORDBMS which diverged from its conceptual postgres roots.
It also describes  features which are specific to informix 9 and
are not relevant for postgresql.

elein@varlena.com

On Monday 20 January 2003 10:51, Aurangzeb M. Agha wrote:
> Is there a white-paper or something out there on how to write apps which
> take advantage of the object-relational features of ORDBMS's?
>
> I'm using PostgreSQL right now, but I'm using it as a relational DB,
> meaning that I'm not taking advantage of, to my knowledge, any of the
> object capabilities of the DB.
>
> I've looked at techdocs but not found anything to my liking.
>
>     Thx,
>     Aurangzeb

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
elein@varlena.com     Database Consulting     www.varlena.com
              I have always depended on the [QA] of strangers.

Re: Writing apps for ORDBMS

From
"Mike Mascari"
Date:
From: "elein" <elein@sbcglobal.net>
>
> This is the primary topic of my book in progress.  (Don't
> hold your breath, but I'm working on it...)
>
> I also recommend "The Plumber's Guide" by Paul Brown,
> however all of the syntax comes from the informix 9 implementation
> of ORDBMS which diverged from its conceptual postgres roots.
> It also describes  features which are specific to informix 9 and
> are not relevant for postgresql.
>
> elein@varlena.com
>
> On Monday 20 January 2003 10:51, Aurangzeb M. Agha wrote:
> > Is there a white-paper or something out there on how to write apps which
> > take advantage of the object-relational features of ORDBMS's?
> >
> > I'm using PostgreSQL right now, but I'm using it as a relational DB,
> > meaning that I'm not taking advantage of, to my knowledge, any of the
> > object capabilities of the DB.
> >
> > I've looked at techdocs but not found anything to my liking.

There is also a bit of a dispute going on as to the value of the object "models" that have thus far been put forward.
Date& Darwen argue in "Foundation for Future Database Systems", that the "relvar = class" equation is the DBMS world's
"FirstGreat Blunder". They argue that domain inheritance, which is orthogonal to the relational model, has merit but
thatrelation variable inheritance (such as that implemented in PostgreSQL) does not. 

Mike Mascari
mascarm@mascari.com


Re: Writing apps for ORDBMS

From
elein
Date:
Oh, yes, there is controversy.  I have Date&Darwen's rants as
well as Stonebraker's.  And I have found that sometimes practicality
overrides all arguments.  I hope to take this practical slant in the book.

But in the interest of disclosure, I've worked for three
(or two, depending on how you count) Stonebraker companies, ingres,
illustra and informix.  For anyone who didn't already know, Michael
Stonebraker was one of the professors  running the ingres project and
the main one running postgres at UCBerkeley.  He co-founded Ingres
(aka Relational Technology) and Illustra (which was acquired by Informix).

elein@varlena.com

On Monday 20 January 2003 12:35, Mike Mascari wrote:
> From: "elein" <elein@sbcglobal.net>
>
> > This is the primary topic of my book in progress.  (Don't
> > hold your breath, but I'm working on it...)
> >
> > I also recommend "The Plumber's Guide" by Paul Brown,
> > however all of the syntax comes from the informix 9 implementation
> > of ORDBMS which diverged from its conceptual postgres roots.
> > It also describes  features which are specific to informix 9 and
> > are not relevant for postgresql.
> >
> > elein@varlena.com
> >
> > On Monday 20 January 2003 10:51, Aurangzeb M. Agha wrote:
> > > Is there a white-paper or something out there on how to write apps
> > > which take advantage of the object-relational features of ORDBMS's?
> > >
> > > I'm using PostgreSQL right now, but I'm using it as a relational DB,
> > > meaning that I'm not taking advantage of, to my knowledge, any of the
> > > object capabilities of the DB.
> > >
> > > I've looked at techdocs but not found anything to my liking.
>
> There is also a bit of a dispute going on as to the value of the object
> "models" that have thus far been put forward. Date & Darwen argue in
> "Foundation for Future Database Systems", that the "relvar = class"
> equation is the DBMS world's "First Great Blunder". They argue that domain
> inheritance, which is orthogonal to the relational model, has merit but
> that relation variable inheritance (such as that implemented in PostgreSQL)
> does not.
>
> Mike Mascari
> mascarm@mascari.com

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
elein@varlena.com     Database Consulting     www.varlena.com
              I have always depended on the [QA] of strangers.

Re: Writing apps for ORDBMS

From
"Aurangzeb M. Agha"
Date:
Elein --

Do you have plans to have your work in progress focus on a specific
database like PostgreSQL or are you shooting for a generic approach of
ORDBMS App writing?

I'm curious to know because I can find very little out there on the
subject.

I am _not_ a DB guru, but I have recently put together a very large-scale
app and web portal that uses PostgreSQL in the back-end.  However, as
stated in my original post, I do not use any of the object-side
capabilities of the DB.

The question that hit me was, why?  But before I start down this road, I'd
like to explore any existing info on the subject; in my case, as it
specifically relates to PostgreSQL.

I'd be more than willing to (eventually) write a paper on the topic, but
I'm basically starting from ground-zero and need to know where to start.

Thanks for the tip on "The Plumber's Guide".

    Rgs,
    Aurangzeb

On Mon, 20 Jan 2003, elein wrote:

:
:Oh, yes, there is controversy.  I have Date&Darwen's rants as
:well as Stonebraker's.  And I have found that sometimes practicality
:overrides all arguments.  I hope to take this practical slant in the book.
:
:But in the interest of disclosure, I've worked for three
:(or two, depending on how you count) Stonebraker companies, ingres,
:illustra and informix.  For anyone who didn't already know, Michael
:Stonebraker was one of the professors  running the ingres project and
:the main one running postgres at UCBerkeley.  He co-founded Ingres
:(aka Relational Technology) and Illustra (which was acquired by Informix).
:
:elein@varlena.com
:
:On Monday 20 January 2003 12:35, Mike Mascari wrote:
:> From: "elein" <elein@sbcglobal.net>
:>
:> > This is the primary topic of my book in progress.  (Don't
:> > hold your breath, but I'm working on it...)
:> >
:> > I also recommend "The Plumber's Guide" by Paul Brown,
:> > however all of the syntax comes from the informix 9 implementation
:> > of ORDBMS which diverged from its conceptual postgres roots.
:> > It also describes  features which are specific to informix 9 and
:> > are not relevant for postgresql.
:> >
:> > elein@varlena.com
:> >
:> > On Monday 20 January 2003 10:51, Aurangzeb M. Agha wrote:
:> > > Is there a white-paper or something out there on how to write apps
:> > > which take advantage of the object-relational features of ORDBMS's?
:> > >
:> > > I'm using PostgreSQL right now, but I'm using it as a relational DB,
:> > > meaning that I'm not taking advantage of, to my knowledge, any of the
:> > > object capabilities of the DB.
:> > >
:> > > I've looked at techdocs but not found anything to my liking.
:>
:> There is also a bit of a dispute going on as to the value of the object
:> "models" that have thus far been put forward. Date & Darwen argue in
:> "Foundation for Future Database Systems", that the "relvar = class"
:> equation is the DBMS world's "First Great Blunder". They argue that domain
:> inheritance, which is orthogonal to the relational model, has merit but
:> that relation variable inheritance (such as that implemented in PostgreSQL)
:> does not.
:>
:> Mike Mascari
:> mascarm@mascari.com
:
:

--
Aurangzeb M. Agha    | Email : aagha@bigfoot.com
                     | Home  : +3 010 8959.558
34 Nafsika St.       | Direct: +3 010 8995.875
Voula 16673          | Mobile: TBD
Greece               | e-Fax : 978 246.0770
                     | PGP id: 0x68B3A763

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little
 temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

                    - Benjamin Franklin