> Hmm.. that creates an interesting (and somewhat philosophical)
> question: is an RDBMS an RDBMS based on its structure or its use?
> According to WhatIs.com (granted, it's not totally definitive) is:
I guess it really depends on where you find get your definition :) I got
this one from ZDNet ( http://www.zdwebopedia.com/TERM/R/RDBMS.html ), which
states that flat-file databases are not RDBMS. Access is a flat-file
database. This may, however, have changed for Access2000, Access97 and
Access2000 are incompatabile - you have to convert the your Access97 DB to
work with Access2000. If Microsoft was changing the format that drastically
I suspect they may have moved to a true relational model. Anyway the
definition from ZDNet is:
RDBMS: Short for relational database management system and pronounced as
separate letters, a type of database management system (DBMS) that stores
data in the form of related tables. Relational databases are powerful
because they require few assumptions about how data is related or how it
will be extracted from the database. As a result, the same database can be
viewed in many different ways.
An important feature of relational systems is that a single database can be
spread across several tables. This differs from flat-file databases, in
which each database is self-contained in a single table.
Almost all full-scale database systems are RDBMS's. Small database systems,
however, use other designs that provide less flexibility in posing queries.
> --start quote--
>
> RDBMS (relational database management system)
>
> An RDBMS is a program that lets you create, update, and administer a
> relational database. An RDBMS takes
> Structured Query Language (SQL) statements entered by a user or
> contained in an application program and
> creates, updates, or provides access to the database. Some of the
> best-known RDBMS's include Microsoft's
> Access, Oracle's Oracle7, and Computer Associates' CA-OpenIngres.
>
> The majority of new corporate, small business, and personal databases
> are being created for use with an RDBMS.
> However, a new database model based on object-orientation, ODBMS, is
> beginning to contend with the RDBMS
> as the database management system of the future.
>
> This term was suggested by Orjan Timan.
> Sources: Allen G. Taylor. SQL for Dummies, IDG, (1995).
> Robert Orfali, Dan Harkey, Jeri Edwards. The Essential Distributed
> Objects Survival Guide, Wiley, (1996).
> Last update: December 3, 1999
>
> --end quote--
>
> So an RDBMS isn't the DB, merely the interface to one (which Access
> would qualify).
>
> Of course, I think the true definition of a relational database (which
> is what we're actually talking about, not an RDBMS) is one that uses
> metadata, or a table, to define it's data and the relationships therein
> (which Access does through MSysObjects)
>
> --
> Billy Cravens
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
> Duane Boudreau wrote:
> >
> > Relational DataBase Management System
> >
> > Oracle, Sybase, SQL Server 6.5/7.0, etc.
> >
> > Access doesn't qualify as it is in fact actually a flat file
> database with a
> > pseudo relational front end (gui) sitting on top.
> >
> > Duane
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Paul Ihrig [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> > > Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2000 11:24 AM
> > > To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'
> > > Subject: RE: ntfs, how do i? ::Thank You::
> > >
> > >
> > > RDBMS?
> > > What are those?
> > > -paul
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > >
> > > From what I remember of Access, most of the linking
> functionality (fields,
> > > tables, etc.) is based on absolute paths which makes the
> development <->
> > > production migration a pain. All the more reason to move to
> an RDBMS if
> > > possible.
> > >
> > > Steve
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