All, I've been enjoying this discussion and have learned a thing or two from all the suggestions.
My particular problem is indeed solved. Adding a simple blob to my original table is the best solution in this case. If you think about the trace data as simply a screenshot of the analyzer display then I think it is easier to understand why I don't want to bother with more complex solutions. Even though they may be technically more correct, they are overkill for what I'm trying to accomplish. I'm just saving a screenshot, minus the graticule and all the other decorations on the display. There's no need to make it any more complicated than that. I don't even have to save the X-axis elements as those are derived from other parameters that are already known. Someone asked if the trace data was time stamped. It is not. Date and time of the test are stored along with all the other relevant information. If I ever have to deal with complex numbers as my core data I have some pretty good ideas on how to handle them now. BTW, the languages I use most, VEE & C#, both support complex data types. Given the amount of use database programs see in the scientific world I'm surprised there is no native complex data type (I can appreciate the difficulty in implementing such a thing). Array support for each type would be nice too. We have this in VEE and it is so easy to use. But for now every programmer working in science or engineering has to re-invent the wheel. For the curious here are the analyzers I'm working with: http://www.keysight.com/en/pc-1000001745%3Aepsg%3Apgr/pna-network-analyzers-300-khz-to-11-thz?cc=US&lc=eng -- Bill Drago Senior Engineer L3 Narda-MITEQ 435 Moreland Road Hauppauge, NY 11788 631-272-5947 / William.Drago at L-3COM.com > -----Original Message----- > From: sqlite-users-bounces at mailinglists.sqlite.org [mailto:sqlite- > users-bounces at mailinglists.sqlite.org] On Behalf Of Jim Callahan > Sent: Sunday, April 26, 2015 9:56 PM > To: General Discussion of SQLite Database > Subject: [sqlite] SQLite and Scientific Computing: Arrays and Complex > Numbers > > The original thread asking about an array of complex numbers has been > marked as "solved." The requester has decided to serialize the complex > numbers and store them in a blob. Earlier, Keith had suggested storing > complex numbers as a pair of real numbers and a separate box table. I > extended Keith's suggestion with two or three tables, elements, arrays > and optionally coordinates. > > There is some literature on storing arrays in SQL databases. In > addition complex numbers seem to be the orphan stepchild of programming > languages (let alone databases). Although FORTRAN IV had complex > numbers they were not added to the C standard until C99. > > Language / Standard / Library > ---------------------------------------- > C / C99/ complex.h > http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/C_Programming/C_Reference/complex.h > C# / 4.0 / System.Numerics.Complex > https://msdn.microsoft.com/en- > us/library/system.numerics.complex(v=vs.110).aspx > > Java /?/ Apache Commons > Python/2.6.5/ cmath > https://docs.python.org/2/library/cmath.html > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_data_type > > So, I suppose if a company wanted to sponsor it, complex numbers could > be supported through an addin library similar to FTS3 and FTS4 for full > text searches. > http://sqlite.org/fts3.html > > Here for example, is a discussion on IBM DeveloperWorks concerning the > Informix database. > https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/gbowerman/entry/sql_ > and_the_complex_plane?lang=en > > Some databases have Abstract Defined Type (Oracle) or User Defined > Types (Microsoft SQL Server) that could be used for complex numbers. > > Ironically, the scientific data format NetCDF did not have provision > for complex numbers (it was designed for weather data). > https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/mailing_lists/archives/netcdfgroup/2011/ms > g00027.html > > There are some discusssions of scientific versions of SQL (such as > SciQL): > > "A Query Language for Multidimensional Arrays: > Design, Implementation, and Optimization Techniques" > http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/libkin/papers/sigmod96a.pdf > > "Requirements for Science Data Bases and SciDB" > http://www-db.cs.wisc.edu/cidr/cidr2009/Paper_26.pdf > > "SciQL, A Query Language for Science Applications" > http://homepages.cwi.nl/~zhang/papers/arraydb11.pdf > > Jim > _______________________________________________ > sqlite-users mailing list > sqlite-users at mailinglists.sqlite.org > http://mailinglists.sqlite.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sqlite-users CONFIDENTIALITY, EXPORT CONTROL AND DISCLAIMER NOTE:This e-mail and any attachments are solely for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged or confidential. 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