[V4RB] newbie on the loose

[Pedro fp]

Thanks for your reply Ruslan ...

On Wednesday, January 29, 2003, at 09:21  PM, Ruslan Zasukhin wrote:

>> 1. Are RecIDs reused when records are deleted?
>
> yes

Which scratches one idea I had. But not to worry, the technique I'm  
using now will still work.

>> 2. I've read in the kernel manual that the Object-Relational model
>> allows having multiple BaseObjects that appear to be a single table.
>
> You mean inheritance? Not implemented now.

I was referring to p16 of Valentina Database Kernel  
[ValentinaKernel.pdf] where it says ...

The term «BaseObject» is used instead of the traditional RDBMS term  
«Table» because Valentina uses Object-Relational model. In this model,  
BaseObjects can inherit attributes and data (i.e., one BaseObject can  
be implemented as several related tables that are invisible to the User  
and Developer). The result is that BaseObject appear to be a single  
Table. In the simplest case, when BaseObject has no parent, it is  
exactly the same as a Table. The BaseObject can, however, do more than  
a Table. For simplicity sake, the terms can be used interchangeably.

If that's not implemented perhaps the documentation should be amended.

>> My project has 2 'types' of records, ones containing data owned by  
>> the user of
>> the software & ones containing published data. I believe that putting  
>> each
>> record type in its own BaseObject has some advantages in this project  
>> but I'm
>> not clear on how this is done. Can anyone offer me a primer on this  
>> or direct
>> me to some published example that shows how it's done?
>
> But what problems Pedro?
> Just make 2 different BaseObjects (i.e 2 Tables) and store records  
> where you
> need.

Not a problem, the passage I quoted above gave me a couple of ideas for  
improving on the way I'm doing things now. I think I'll keep it in one  
table [as it is using REALdb] for now to keep it simple for me to  
implement.

>> 3. Most of the fields in my database are to be predefined but the
>> software must also provide for user defined custom fields. Can I do
>> this by having a mixture of static & dynamic fields in a Valentina
>> database? If so [again] can someone offer a primer on this of direct  
>> me
>> to some published example?
>
> Pedro, the good db design do not require adding of fields on the fly.

I wholly agree however some labs [this is scientific software] will  
want to add fields of their own [in-house meta-data] & I have to  
provide for that without knowing in advance what they are.

> May be better use for dynamic fields separate table.

That sounds just the way to go. Thanx :)

Cheers, Pedro :-)

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