RE: [xml-dev] A standard approach to glueing together reusableXML fragments in prose?

["Dare Obasanjo" <dareo@microsoft.com>]

Ah, yes. The main problems with the hierarchical model are that it encourages data redundancy which leads to problems during updates and deletions. XQuery has dodged the bullet with solving this problem for now since the DML work is slated for v-next. Of course, XQuery has bigger problems to solve than that whenever DML gets around to being specced given its dependency on W3C XML Schema as a type system.  

________________________________

From: Jonathan Robie [mailto:jonathan.robie@datadirect.com]
Sent: Mon 8/25/2003 8:07 AM
To: Mike Champion; xml-dev@lists.xml.org
Subject: Re: [xml-dev] A standard approach to glueing together reusableXML fragments in prose?

There's a classic argument between hierarchy people and relational people
that goes back at least to the beginning of the relational model. The
hierarchical database people said that a direct representation of
relationships is really important. You don't drive your car up to the
garage, remove the wheels, put them in the wheels table, put the seats in
the seats table, etc.  You just drive your car in and out.

The relational people said that relationships among data are so important
that they should be modeled as data so that they can be used as the basis
for queries and recombined in many ways. You may want to take the pieces of
many cars and put them together in some creative way. If all you want is
the original car, you don't need a real database.

XQuery says that both sides are right. It's important to be able to
maintain the original structure, and it's important to be able to do
queries based on that structure to create new structures.

Jonathan


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