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This article has been rewritten on 10/1/17 to bring it into line with McGoveran's formal exposition and interpretation of Codd's true RSM.

Class, Type, Relation and Domain in Database Management

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See the rewrite

What Is a Relational Table

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Welcome and thanks to readers, subscribers, well wishers and all expressions of interest and support.

1. Except for some Blogger bugs, the blog format seems to be working better than the old site, so at some point in the next few weeks I will drop the latter and probably shift the blog to the old domain. As far as I can tell, the current blogspot URL will continue to work. I will keep you posted.

2. Currently my top priority is to revise and expand my papers, seminars and to add to them. I am also experimenting with self-publishing on Kindle, which proves to be a hassle. This will keep me busy for a while, so if I  am not as responsive/active as I would like to be, thanks for your patience.

3. As a result of comments to two of my posts that identified some problems, I have taken them offline for revision and I will repost them as soon as I can.
Looks like I am a bit rusty after so many years in the wilderness. I apologize for the inconvenience. (UPDATE: My revised first post has been republished).

Please feel free to contact me at the address on the About page with submissions for debunking, questions, comments or whateve.

It's good to be back.
FP

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In What's Wrong with the Schema? Stephen Haberman is

...wondering why schema-less databases are so popular lately. Most any NoSQL store is schema-less. And while perhaps schema-less-ness is an integral part of NoSQL (e.g. most NoSQL databases are just opaque key/value stores), I would assert it’s an orthogonal concern, and that document-oriented databases, e.g. MongoDB, could arguably have a schema. However, MongoDB doesn’t just say it’s schema-less for technical reasons related to being a NoSQL store, it actually touts its lack of a schema as a benefit, claiming it is “agile” and offers “simplicity and power”. I find all of this confusing, as I actually want a schema.

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The relational calculus is good in describing sets. But it´s bad at describing relations between data in different sets. Explicit identities (primary keys) need to be introduced and normalization is needed to avoid update inconsistencies due to duplication of data.

To say it somewhat bluntly: The problem with the relational calculus and RDBMS etc. is the focus on data. It´s seems to be so important to store the data, that connecting the data moves to the background.

That might be close to how we store filled in paper forms. But it´s so unlike how the mind works.

There is no data stored in your brain. If you look at the fridge in your kitchen, there is no tiny fridge created in your brain so you can take the memory of your fridge with you, when you leave your kitchen. --Ralf's Sudelbücher, Musings on relations - or: WinFS is not enough

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See: Physical Independence Part 1: Don't Mix Model with Implementation