This is probably a result of the ESRI geothingamigigs concept. I had a look at the table structures of the new ESRI geodatabase at a conference recently(pays to get drunk with the ESRI reps) , and they have some nice concepts in it
For a start, they have stored the spatial object as an OLE object within the Access table. The concept is very neat, rather like the spatial object field type concept in Oracle (although i am expecting a tirade of angry Oracle specialists who will object to anything in Access being compared to Oracle Spatial). It means that the spatial data is stored in the same database as the data, which has to be a lot more stable than the flakey link that Mapinfo seems to have with Access in a Multiuser environment - and more recoverable if someone deletes records in the database from outside MapInfo. To be fair though, ArcView only works as single user with Access. And really you can't expect too much when you rely on Microsoft's stability. They also have a number of other tables that store relationships and procedures that seem to be used for triggering system and user defined procedures for object dependancy and relational integrity. All in all, its not a bad concept, but when the ESRI reps showed it at the conference I attended, only one person in the audience seemed to be interested in its potential applications - and I use MapInfo. The rest of the audience (mainly ESRI users) did not seem to understand what they could use it for - most still consider databases as an excel spreadsheet you reluctantly tack onto a GIS layer, and thought the term referential integrity was ever so quaint. Perhaps they had used all their energy in learning how to use the software. R Robert Crossley Robert Crossley and Associates 10 Trinity Street CAIRNS QLD Australia 4870 P: 61-7-40314877 F: 61-7-40314810 M:0419718642 Robert Crossley Robert Crossley and Associates 10 Trinity Street CAIRNS QLD Australia 4870 P: 61-7-40314877 F: 61-7-40314810 M:0419718642 Robert Crossley Robert Crossley and Associates 10 Trinity Street CAIRNS QLD Australia 4870 P: 61-7-40314877 F: 61-7-40314810 M:0419718642 _______________________________________________________________________ List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | To unsubscribe, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put "unsubscribe MapInfo-L" in the message body.
