Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!cimshop!davidm From: cimshop!davidm@uunet.UU.NET (David S. Masterson) Newsgroups: comp.databases Subject: Re: variable record length Message-ID: Date: 1 Feb 90 17:57:08 GMT References: <410@ssc.UUCP> <1990Jan25.000347.7138@oracle.com> <738@dgis.dtic.dla.mil> <742@dgis.dtic.dla.mil> <7388@tank.uchicago.edu> Sender: davidm@cimshop.UUCP Distribution: usa Organization: Consilium Inc., Mountain View, California. Lines: 25 In-reply-to: monty@delphi.uchicago.edu's message of 1 Feb 90 03:55:11 GMT In article <7388@tank.uchicago.edu> monty@delphi.uchicago.edu (Monty Mullig) writes: let's define some terms. Ok, as long as we define ALL the terms... to my mind, a variable length field is one in which no fixed maximum or minimum is specified by the user. Fine, but what is the purpose of such a field? Where would you make use of it and why? What problems are incurred with being "forced" to specify a maximum? now, the system might place some restrictions on the size of the field, such as it must be between 0 and 65,534 bytes long, but the user doesn't specify a limit. How would it differ from a LONG VARCHAR field (DEC RDB terminology, I think) in which the upper limit isn't specified, but its certainly known (65536)? -- =================================================================== David Masterson Consilium, Inc. uunet!cimshop!davidm Mt. View, CA 94043 =================================================================== "If someone thinks they know what I said, then I didn't say it!"