Chapter 11: Exotic Data

Chapter 11: Exotic Data

Overview

Dr. Codd did more than just define the relational model so we could build SQL databases. He also gave us an idea as to how a persistent store of data should behave. SQL happens to use what would have been called ?record-oriented? data in file systems, but the relational database model never spoke to the nature of the elements involved and dealt instead with general principles that can be applied to other forms of data, if they can be modeled with relations, logic, and sets.

This nontraditional data includes geographical data, still images, video and other moving images, two- and three-dimensional spatial data, audio, and other types of data that are now a part of the corporate landscape. Coined words such as ?textbase,? ?imagebase,? or ?geobase? give a nod to the original databases.

This is not really new data in the sense that it never existed before, but it is data that we never thought we could store and manipulate before. The bad news for the author of this book is that the standards for these exotic ?datatypes? are either in flux or do not exist yet. The other bad news is that technology is adding to the number of exotic datatypes available.

Let me discuss some of the more popular datatypes, but at a higher level than in the preceding chapters. I want to look for the common threads in all this diverse information.

11.1 The Nature of Data Manipulation

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Joe Celko's Data and Databases: Concepts in Practice

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Chapter 11: Exotic Data

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