Difficult Relationships

[Vaughan]

Hello

I'm setting up a database system where each file is a separate country. I want to link up all the databases together so that information can be shared between them all.

Some countries have been easy. Most of Europe went together pretty easily (except perhaps for Switzerland and some of the Baltic states).

I cannot work out a relationship to link Israel and Palestine; strangly any links from Israel to other countries have to go through USA first.

USA is an interesting one. All relationships from USA to other countries by default have the "delete" option always enabled, consequently the deletion of any record in USA can cause the unexpected removal of data in other countries, even where a direct relationship does not appear to exist. I this a bug or a feature?

I'm also having trouble with the UK. It doesn't want to create any new relationships to Europe, which is odd since most of its data is over there. Interestingly, the UK file has the most number of relationships but hardly any of them seem to work any more.

Australia doesn't seem to want records that any other country exports, or any related records that have had their master records deleted. Most other related records are fine, as long as the data is outside the file. While Australia does fit well Asia most of the related records are in Europe and USA, but each time a direct relationshp is made to any country outside Asia I get a "circular relationship" error.

When I try to link USA to Asia I get a "file not found"... in fact to most other countries that are not already related in some way. When Web Companion is enabled, all countries can see USA but USA cannot seem to see any others.

In the New Zealand file, the Status(CurrentDate) command keeps returning a value that is 20 years behind the others. (I cannot even find the TODAY function in the NZ file: is thre a localised version for NZ?)

Every time I open the Canada file on a system with a US keyboard it won't accept the default system formats, yet it doesn't seem to work properly with any other. (I've tried the French system but it only works for a while before crashing.)

The China file is rapidly approaching the 2GB record limit. Every time I try to split it up the Taiwan file starts going funny.

The Indonesia file is also getting full but not to the point where it's a problem, but I cannot stop it from splitting itself up.

The only way I can figure to get data out of the system is to create an external file called "History" but it won't allow any relational fields. History just keeps repeating...

[danjacoby]

The problem with the China problem may stem from the firewall that's all around it. Just make sure the USA file doesn't try to break it up the way it broke up the Soviet Union file (cf. "Russia").

The "Palestine" file you mention will have problems for two reasons: 1) It's only a "virtual" file -- it doesn't really exist, and 2) It's extremely unstable. Too bad it has no link to the Egypt file.

Regarding the USA-Asia problem, you might be able to establish a link, however tenuous, between the USA and Vietnam, but it's probably a low-priority item right now.

I notice you don't mention any South American files. Of course, the Argentina file probably keeps crashing, the Brazil file's data is burning up, the Colombia file is highly unstable, the Peru file is being purged of much data, and whatever happened to the Chile file, anyway?

[Fitch]

And then there's the whole Tuva problem. Don't get me started!

[Gogargirl]

There’s a developer who’s been marketing a solution for this for a while now. His code is open source and based on a ten-step script that’s been around for a couple of millennia. It’s simple, but if you need further help you can try the manual (be warned, it’s in two HUGE volumes).

You could try the following: implement the developer’s solution to host files for Southern Europe, South America, and the Philippines from a single server, based near Rome. You could have a few problems with northern Europe and the UK if you do, as their protocols vary slightly.

Bear in mind that Israel only works with volume 1 of the manual and that the Arab states only recognize the original code. Any upgrades or patches will conflict with their set-up.

Parts of Asia and India will run off the server near Rome, but most of India, Nepal and Japan will need its own stand-alone version. It has some great characteristics. When the database crashes, it performs an automatic recovery that cleans up all the data and updates the software too, so you end up with something that’s much better than before. I call that tech nirvana!

You should be careful how you implement the solution in China – there can be real problems at the user level.

Other countries not specifically mentioned should be able to get onto the network and choose their own host to access the data. You’re bound to have some users (not based in any particular country) who just won’t get onto the network at all. They think the developer’s solution is useless and just do their own thing. Ah well, you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Good luck!

[BobWeaver]

Alice,

Sadly, the the various implementations of this code seem to have created just as many problems as they have tried to solve, as all the developers argue that their own implementation is superior to everyone else's. Fortunately, all these implementations are based on a very tightly coded kernal (the "Golden Protocol") which by itself is will solve virtually any conflict.

[danjacoby]

It's worse than that, Bob:

First of all, many self-named "developers" in this area aren't really; they're no better than snake-oil salesmen.

Secondly, they don't just claim that their "solutions" are superior -- they claim that theirs is the only solution, and that those who implement anyone else's "false solution" are bankrupt right from the start.

And for Alice:

Seems to me I recall someone trying to adapt the ten-step program, claiming that the first two steps were all that were specifically necessary, and that if you followed the first two steps the others just kind of fell into place. Whatever happened to him? There seems to be some sort of mystery about that.

[Gogargirl]

Ah, Bob – the “Golden Protocol” – how I’d love to get my hands on a copy of that! Do you think my OS could cope?

Dan –

You’re right about the adapted version of the 10-step script. It’s the one they use in the Middle East, Indonesia, parts of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan (hardware problems there). Not forgetting bits of the former Yugoslavia and Albania too. It has quite a restricting set of features, yet it’s the second most popular version in France and Germany. Several million Americans also use it. Gosh I’m beginning to understand the nature of Vaughan’s problem….

[RussBaker]

Vaughan,

I can't pretend to be able to solve all of the relationship questions you have raised - BUT some of the issues you raise about our small (but none-the-less dual Winter Gold Medal) country might also be able to be explained by the difficulties being experienced by our Supreme Developer.

Apparently he has been having difficulty with some of his scripts from older versions when attempting to run them using the standards in the current version. It is possible that some of the older script steps are either no longer in use or cannot be translated.

Extensive use of the comment line does not seem to have improved the ability of these older scripts to run, or to be understood by current users.

All this is a bit surprising given SD's reported familiarity with the open-source ten step script referred to by Alison. Perhaps Alison's own SD will be able to shed some light when she arrives.

Russ Baker

Canberra, Australia

[BobWeaver]

Meanwhile, I shall continue to dance naked under the winter stars and sacrifice virgin floppy disks to my great pagan SD gods. Hot rum afterwards for everyone.

[LaRetta]

Ohhhh, Vaughn! This is TOO GOOD! I wonder if you need to be a 'relational db-type' person to appreciate this?! I knew you had a great sense of humor, but this is the BEST!

[LaRetta]

Well now, you ALL have a great sense of humor! Is it a prerequisite to good design structure? Geeez, I can't even get a self-join relationship to work!!!

[Vaughan]

Would self-joins be illegal in some US States?

[LaRetta]

I thought it sounded a bit strange after I posted it! I MEANT, 'understanding my inner self.' I'm not about to say any more!

[bbaliner]

Very creative, mate.

I'm afraid the problem with Israel and Palestine will persist, since they're both trying to grad same memory resources. Personally I would put them on saparate remote servers. Or simply export Palestine to Excel, and restructure it from the ground up.

As for China, seems like will need SQL Server or Oracle, unfortunately.

Looks like the only people who can get the world out of the mess are DBAs, certainly not polititians.

G'day...