Re: Blobs - Now is Field Reference File

John P Carr wrote:
> Ya,  I know about the User Defined Fields.   I have talked to Kent and Mike
> at
> length about them.   They still pale in comparison to a "traditional
> FieldRef file" IMHO
> 

How can controlling the manipulation of the field pale? In DDS, a
reference field may carry a values clause, but that clause only controls
the values allowed on a display, not the values in the field through
other access methods, like DFU.

> All my fields in my data base are in my Fieldref.   I have a "Domain" area
> of the
> fieldref that defines all unique field(Attribute) types.  All fields in ALL
> files
> refer to that one definition. (DSPF, PF, ICF, PRTF, and Templates for
> Parameters)
> 
> For example,  I have a QUANTITY field defined as  (say) 11,3  packed
> 
> All instances of the Attribute QUANTITY refer to that one definition.
> However, I may want one particluar instance to be 7,0 Zoned but still be
> referenced to the Quantity field(because it is a Quantity).
> 
> Being able to override certain aspects of an Attribute for a particular
> instance is very powerful.  Like DFT, TEXT, LENGTH, DECIMAL, TYPE(cast
> function),
> etc.   The ease of doing it, looking it up, etc still in my mind
> is way far better than the current implementaion of User Defined Fields.
> 
> You get the idea, I'm sure.

Not only do I get the idea, I have used both. I definitely prefer the
SQL options. But then, I work across multiple databases and
environments, so this provides a singular, common framework and allows
me to use tools such as ERWin to deal with all environments.

Yes, I do agree that the reference fields and their appropriate use
walked away from everything else in the industry from the days of the 38
to nearly the present, but as objects make their way into databases, it
allows us the opportunity to advance along the evolutionary ladder at
least by one more step.

You can't push object technology on one part of the industry
(programming languages) without allowing for that technology in
something as fundamental as the database.
-- 
===========================================================
R. Bruce Hoffman, Jr.
 -- IBM Certified AS/400 Professional System Administrator
 -- IBM Certified AS/400 Professional Network Administrator

"The sum of all human knowledge is a fixed constant.
    It's the population that keeps growing!"
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