Re: Which of the SYSIBM tables/views show the row count for

On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 3:33 PM, Joe Pluta <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> * No transactions
> * No referantial integrity
> * No Journalling
Most IBM midrange shops haven't needed these because their primary
purpose is to recover from a database or system crash, and these simply
don't happen on the System i. Back in the days when disk space and CPU

Journalling is very important for proper backups. You'll the journals
for roll forward purposes when recovering.

e.G. if you have a system failure (application, hardware, database,
OS, Power) at Monday, 21:00, and you do your backups each day at
22:00, you will lose 23 hours of data without journals. With journals,
you can roll forward to the exact point in time the database failed,
and have a consistent snapshot of your database.

Transactions and Referential integrity ensure that your database is
always in consistent state. There are many, many factors that can
break your database if you do not use them. Power failures, hardware
failures, application failures, etc.

Of course it is good if you never need your journals or transactions.
But systems should be built upon measurable quality, not subjective
one.

things. Now, I guess there's less reason, but I appreciate the fact
that I don't have to do all the extra work entailed.

You do not have to use them, yes. But i wouldn't want to drive a 20
year old car when i get in a car crash. A newer car will protect me
better (transactions, journals), and might even prevent me from doing
mistakes (ESP, Referential Integrity).

> * No proper DB backup procedures (SWA, Journal Backups)
Most shops I know do backups fine. SWA is a nice feature, but not
necessary. And if your don't use journals, you don't need to back them up!

Well, you need journals for point-in-time recovery.

This is an application design issue. A good server-based design is just
as encapsulated as stored procedures and doesn't lock you into the SQL
syntax (which was never designed for program-to-program calls).

Can't argue much here as i'm not a developer ;)

Again, a lot of your complaints are design choices. You don't need
transactions and journaling on every file in the system. RI is probably
a good thing these days, but it's not necessary if your applications are
written correctly. I'm just glad I don't work on a machine where

Of course they are design choices. It's whether you use 80ies tech or
todays tech. As said, driving a 20 year old car can be fun and very
satisfying. I would prefer having my car crash in a current vehicle,
though.

transactions are required because the database goes casters up regularly.

I never needed the airbags in my car. I still want them.