>>Philip Sheard wrote in message <34211@palm-dev-forum>...
>>
>>I think he is referring to the way language is hijacked by ideologies.
>
>> That is a wee bit of a semantic argument there -
>>although databases at the
>> end of the day may be physically stored as a flat file - they are to all
>> intents and purposes extremely different beasts (these days anyway).
>Subject: Re: Palm Database and RelationDatabase.
>From: "Richard M. Hartman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2000 09:53:36 -0800
>Perhaps. Even the term "flat file" is a term from the
>database development sub-domain of computers,
>we are still being hijacked by the "database ideology"
>terminology.
>A PalmOS "database" is essentially a "file" for any
>other OS. It is the only unit we've got in which to store
>data of any sort (including programs!) for retrieval on
>the PalmOS. This is a "file" folks. Arguing over "flat
>file database" vs. "relational database" is missing the
>point.
This whole thing repeats an old thread. However, to revisit,
the "Palm Database" is neither a "database" nor a "flat file".
It is a persistent indexed linked list. I find it very useful building
block for building relational databases, one that is superior to
the FAT-based file systems on PC's.
But the title "Palm Database" is inherently confusing, as shown
by the pour souls who ask this site every few weeks how to setup
the field definitions.
Regardless of the confusion and misnomer, "Palm Database"
means (to us) something quite specific and we'll just have to live
with its name.
Roger Stringer
Marietta Systems, Inc.
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