>> So, having the technology is one thing, but you must also have good IT >> governance processes in place if you want to run a successful operation.
Truer and wiser words were never spoken, unless management has a formal policy of not giving a wit about economic value of resources. Hear, hear, Frank! Thanks, Steve in Memphis ----- Original Message ----- From: "van der Zwaag, Frank" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "RBASE-L Mailing List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2003 4:21 PM Subject: [RBASE-L] - Re: Note Fields - Razzak's Reply - broken pointers > Steve, > > I fully concur with your "due diligence". > > In the early stages of developing the database for the NZ Police we had > broken pointers coming out of our ears (version 4.5). > > Since we have been using version 6.5 we haven't had any problems, except > when we do a major job and the building manager decides to run a power-off / > generator test. > > R:Scope; We have it, but we never use it. I find it a bit dangerous fiddling > directly with the data. There is limited control over what you are doing and > there are no audit trails. I would always be concerned about the integrity > of the database if I had to fix it with these kind of utilities. > > What do we do: We have a very strong backup regime in place. If autochck > indicates a problem we immediately reload and check the recordnumbers and > totals against our documentation. If that doesn't fix the problem, we copy > the last backup in. We have a very strong change management regime in place. > We have a production, backup of the production, pre-production and > development system online. In addition this we do the daily tape backups. We > learned the hard way. > > So, having the technology is one thing, but you must also have good IT > governance processes in place if you want to run a successful operation. > > ;) > > Frank > > -----Original Message----- > From: J. Stephen Wills [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Thursday, 18 September 2003 08:40 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [RBASE-L] - Re: Note Fields - Razzak's Reply > > > Steve, have you ever used R:Scope in the past? I ask because I didn't > really understand the role of "pointers" or the impact of broken ones until > I had need to use it, ca. 1988(?). Pointers are, as far as I know, > ABSOLUTELY VITAL, f/the internal maintenance of the data in the tables of a > DBMS, and that means any DBMS. > > However, and please don't hold it against me, I won't go into any more > detail at the moment, as I'm sure my effort would be unworthy of the topic. > However, I'd be happy to find some relevant and reliable info on-line and > send the URL's to you. > > Additionally, let me add, the only time I recall having had broken pointers > was when the system that was "hosting" a PACK/RELOAD/INSERT/ETC operation > was powered off before the operation was complete ; I'm sure there are other > scenarios wherein this can happen, as well. However, it seems to be rather > a rare thing, w/for the most part, known causes. Moreover, having a good > and enforced policy and process f/backups/archives mitigates the impact of > such a failure. > > So, I wouldn't worry (much) about broken pointers, I'd recommend that you > just analyze, design, and implement as you think is appropriate and around > that do all your "due diligence" stuff, like backing up ... > > Later, > Steve in Memphis > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Fogelson, Steve" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "RBASE-L Mailing List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2003 3:26 PM > Subject: [RBASE-L] - Re: Note Fields - Razzak's Reply > > > > Thanks again for the responses. > > > > After reading Razzak's articles, I have come to the conclusion that by > > designing the DB structure with Note tables for each table that need note > > fields: > > > > 1) That the "Note table" doesn't really need previous and next pointers > > (even though it normally does have them) as this table is only referenced > by > > the primary key from the parent table. > > > > 2) We would probably not even notice that there was a broken pointer in a > > "Note table". Would Autochk pick this up? > > > > I still am not sure if R:Scope would fix a broken pointer in a "Note > Table". > > > > Thanks > > > > Steve > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: A. Razzak Memon [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2003 1:54 PM > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: [RBASE-L] - Re: Note Fields - Razzak's Reply > > > > > > > > At 11:09 AM 9/17/2003 -0500, Steve Fogelson wrote: > > > > >A while back I had asked about Text vs. Note fields. > > > > > >A few responses indicated that they keep all "note"s in a separate table. > > >Evidently problems with broken pointers. > > > > > >I assume you design your DBs with a table for ALL notes. And all the > other > > >tables contain Note_ID fields where appropriate, that point to that note > in > > >the note table. Then use a view to read a row including the note. > > > > > >Are these assumptions correct? > > > > > >Could someone elaborate on this design and problems with broken pointers. > > >How is this design strategy easier to fix broken pointers? > > > > > > Steve, > > > > Take a look at the following two articles: > > > > From The Edge: http://www.razzak.com/fte > > > > Understanding and Using VARCHAR Data Type (07/18/2002) > > > > Finding and Fixing Broken Indexes (04/30/2002) > > > > Hope that helps! > > > > Very Best R:egards, > > > > Razzak. > > > > ____________________________________________________________________ > CAUTION - This message may contain privileged and confidential > information intended only for the use of the addressee named above. > If you are not the intended recipient of this message you are hereby > notified that any use, dissemination, distribution or reproduction > of this message is prohibited. If you have received this message in > error please notify Air New Zealand immediately. Any views expressed > in this message are those of the individual sender and may not > necessarily reflect the views of Air New Zealand. > _____________________________________________________________________ > For more information on the Air New Zealand Group, visit us online > at http://www.airnewzealand.com > _____________________________________________________________________ >
