On various dates various people said:
PostgreSQL is probably a better choice ...........
I'll second the choice of PostgreSQL
and so on. Now, after all this praise, I installed PostgreSQL and started mucking around with it. I created a table, put data in it and even did a query! I can't figure out how to get an ODBC connection yet to my NT box and I can't find a download source for the mpsql (?) client to run on windows. I thought I might ask those knowledgeable folks on the mailing list. Nevertheless, I really thought I was going somewhere until I discover that PostgreSQL does not support foreign keys. I find this astonishing. Isn't this the whole point of databases? I use a tlkp to prefix lookup tables. If I create a (simplified) table of ethnic groups : CREATE TABLE tlkpEthnic ( ethnic_id int NOT NULL , ethnic_descriptionl varchar (50) NULL , CONSTRAINT pk_tlkpEthnic PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED ( ethnic_id ) ) and then go on to create a (hugely simplified) table of pupils CREATE TABLE dbo.tblPupil ( pupil_id int IDENTITY (1, 1) NOT NULL , name_first varchar (50) NULL, name_second varchar (50) NULL , ethnic_id int NOT NULL, CONSTRAINT fk_tblPupil_ethnic FOREIGN KEY ( ethnic_id) REFERENCES dbo.tlkpEthnic (ethnic_id), ) I want to require the ethnic_id for every pupil to match an entry in tlkpEthnic. To this end I use REFERENCES. Seemingly PostgreSQL only lets you enforce this through triggers. So, you would have to write triggers for virtually everything. Not to go into preventing deletion from tlkpEthnic where those records are referenced by records in tblPupil. Obviously, PostgreSQL was written by people far more knowledgeable than me, so what am I missing here? Finally,
After a little reading and some downloading of software I have a running PostgreSQL server,............. and access to the PostgreSQL databases on the server via PostODBC and Lotus Approach from Windows systems.
Alan, what extra did you download? Is there not everything I need on the SuSE cd to get ODBC going? regards Richard richard@tortoise.demon.co.uk