Re: [gnome-db] Mergeant Data Dictionary

[Rodrigo Moya <rodrigo gnome-db org>]

On Mon, 2003-07-07 at 01:23, Ian D. Stewart wrote:
> Dear List,
> 
since no one comments on this, I'll do it

> Rodrigo recommended that I post my ideas for a data dictionary for Mergeant so 
> that others, especially Vivian, could comment on them.
> 
yes, Vivien, please, have a look at Ian's ideas.

> For the uninitiated, a data dictionary is a means to model and/or manage a 
> database at the data element (or data item, or data object, or field) level.  
> Such a dictionary would list infomation such as name, business definition, 
> data type, length, precision (where applicable), default values, ranges of 
> values, lists of values and data sensitivity (e.g., Public, Confidential, 
> etc).
> 
> My thoughts for the user interface is a tab in the main display, modeled after 
> the Tables and Views tab, with a grid display, where each column represents a 
> category of data element metadata, and each row represents a distinct data 
> element.
> 
> Some of this information (name, scale, data type) is already available within 
> the GdaFieldAttributes class.  Other data, such as default values, ranges and 
> data sensitivity would need to be handled separately, perhaps within a 
> subclass of GdaFieldAttributes.
> 
yes, but most generic things should be in GdaFieldAttributes. of course,
specific things needed for the data dictionary might be in a separate
structure.

You probably want to wait on Vivien's comments, since he is rewriting
the mergeant core, which could affect a lot on this work. So please,
Vivien, answer as soon as you can.

cheers