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[Tim Gales]

bz-gmort at beezifies.com wrote:
> Tim Gales wrote:
>>
>> But when it comes time to exchange data from one table in a
>> database to another database -- even within the the same DBMS --
>> all bets about the "not-needing-to-be-next-to-another-attribute-ness"
>> are off. (e.g. as in a comma separated file)
>>
> 
> I've never run into this issue.  I've run into the "if you don't specify 
> the order, the database will use it's own default ordering" - and a lot 
> of depending on "select *" to give things in the "correct" order. 
Exactly -- ordering matters.
It is possible that you can always get lucky
and have the ordering match as it
*might* between say Sybase and SQL Server.
(their code base was the same a few years back)

But just because it doesn't blow up, doesn't
mean that ordering doesn't matter.
> 
> But one can hardly blame databases for having different defaults if you 
> fail to specify one. 
I blame DBMS's for a lot of things -- but not that.
> 
>> Thus XML frees you from the confines of having to carefully
>> order your data when you want to exchange it.
>>
>> Now if during the exchange of XML data it has to
>> stop on a system and be stored, it certainly makes sense
>> to put it into an XML database.
> 
> 
> This statement prompted my reason for replying.  Is there a standalone 
> set of tools for updating/editing an XML database? 
You might be interested in looking at Authentic
http://www.altova.com/products/authentic/xml_db_form_editor.html
> 
> I'm thinking of something along the lines of Microsoft Access, where you 
> have 1 tool which has forms, program logic, and a database and all the 
> data ends up "together" from a user standpoint.  So I can give someone a 
> couple of access files and they have a complete application they can run 
> locally?
> 
I think the free edition of SQL Server (the express edition)
supports the Microsoft XML extensions.
[snip]

-- 

T. Gales & Associates
'Helping People Connect with Technology'

http://www.tgaconnect.com