That was a great magazine.  I've clipped and saved or
printed from the web site and saved, a number of articles
from that mag.

If you *really* want to discuss dates, read the Snodgrass
series on temporal data, then by his book.  :)

Jared






[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent by: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 10/14/2002 12:58 PM
 Please respond to ORACLE-L

 
        To:     Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
        cc: 
        Subject:        Re: No Nulls? (was: Warehouse design: snowflake vs star 
schemas)



Rich,

I piqued my own curiosity and looked at "Database Programming and Design
On-Line".  Below is a link to a lengthy response (1995) by Date and others
to Tom Johnston's article defending MVL (Multi-Valued Logic).  Plenty to
chew on.

http://www.dbpd.com/vault/dateresp.htm

Jack C. Applewhite
Database Administrator
Austin Independent School District
Austin, Texas
512.414.9715
[EMAIL PROTECTED]



  
                    Jack  
                    Applewhite           To:     [EMAIL PROTECTED]      
 
                                         cc:  
                    10/14/2002           Subject:     Re: No Nulls? (was: 
Warehouse 
                    01:32 PM             design: snowflake vs star 
schemas)(Document link: 
                                         Jack Applewhite)  
  



Rich,

Several years ago in the old "Database Programming and Design" magazine (a
really useful publication, IMHO - too bad it's gone), C. J. Date and
another database guru (I can't remember his name) carried on a debate that
lasted several months about the "badness" (Date) vs "goodness" (the other
guy) of Three Valued Logic in general and Nulls in particular.  Date even
wrote an article showing how to design a database with all Not Null
columns.

The issues are many, but, for me, the bottom line is that it's easier to
live with the "evils" of Nulls - including the extra coding you have to do
to make sure they're handled appropriately for each SQL statement - than 
to
do all the upfront work required to eliminate them.

Theoretically speaking, I think Date is totally correct.  Practically
speaking, I'm too lazy to implement his ideas.   ;-)

Jack C. Applewhite
Database Administrator
Austin Independent School District
Austin, Texas
512.414.9715
[EMAIL PROTECTED]



  
                    "Jesse, Rich"  
                    <Rich.Jesse@qti       To:     Multiple recipients of 
list ORACLE-L 
                    world.com>             <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>    
                    Sent by:              cc:  
                    [EMAIL PROTECTED]       Subject:     No Nulls? (was: 
Warehouse design: 
                    m                      snowflake vs star schemas)      
 
  
  
                    10/14/2002  
                    12:33 PM  
                    Please respond  
                    to ORACLE-L  
  
  




On the link below is this quote from C.J.Date:

"I don't want you to think that my SQL solution to your problem means I
advocate the use of nulls.  Nulls are a disaster."

Of course, he doesn't expound upon it (probably not a need except for
dummies like me).  Anyone care to comment?  (On the quote, not on my
dumminess...)

Rich

Rich Jesse                           System/Database Administrator
[EMAIL PROTECTED]              Quad/Tech International, Sussex, WI
USA

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robson, Peter [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Monday, October 14, 2002 4:59 AM
> To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
> Subject: RE: Warehouse design: snowflake vs star schemas
>
>
> Just for the record (and perhaps to confirm that there are
> always two sides
> to a story). Readers may like to see the article Chris Date
> wrote to Ralph
> Kemball on the subject of business rules and integrity constraints:
>
> http://www.dbdebunk.com/kimball1.htm
--
Author: Jesse, Rich
  INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED]






-- 
Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
-- 
Author: 
  INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Fat City Network Services    -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com
San Diego, California        -- Mailing list and web hosting services
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message
to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in
the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L
(or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from).  You may
also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).



-- 
Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
-- 
Author: 
  INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Fat City Network Services    -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com
San Diego, California        -- Mailing list and web hosting services
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message
to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in
the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L
(or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from).  You may
also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).

Reply via email to