From owner-freebsd-database Thu Dec 17 22:00:33 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id WAA22628 for freebsd-database-outgoing; Thu, 17 Dec 1998 22:00:33 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-database@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from gw.caamora.com.au (jonath5.lnk.telstra.net [139.130.41.237]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id WAA22623 for ; Thu, 17 Dec 1998 22:00:28 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from jon@gw.caamora.com.au) Received: (from jon@localhost) by gw.caamora.com.au (8.8.8/8.8.8) id RAA00877; Fri, 18 Dec 1998 17:10:10 +1100 (EST) (envelope-from jon) Message-ID: <19981218171009.C411@caamora.com.au> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 17:10:09 +1100 From: jonathan michaels To: freebsd-database@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: conversion from asksam Mail-Followup-To: freebsd-database@FreeBSD.ORG References: <19981218152005.A411@caamora.com.au> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mutt 0.91.1i In-Reply-To: ; from Tom on Thu, Dec 17, 1998 at 08:26:04PM -0800 X-Operating-System: FreeBSD gw.caamora.com.au 2.2.7-RELEASE i386 X-Mood: i'm alive, if it counts Organisation: Caamora, PO Box 144, Rosebery NSW 1445 Australia Sender: owner-freebsd-database@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk On Thu, Dec 17, 1998 at 08:26:04PM -0800, Tom wrote: > > On Fri, 18 Dec 1998, jonathan michaels wrote: > > > i have recently, taken over a task that involves maintaining an asksam (for > > dos) database. i was thinking that it would be much easier to have an office > > > i realise that schemas are going to have to be built and teh asksam database > > exported .. this isn't a problem or an issue. what i need to know is wether or > > not thier is a sql (assuming sql is up to the task) based methodology to > > handle purely text based information and or wether or not it is possible to > > get text information fields to be searcable ? > > What kind of database is asksam? a free-form text type, like isys. > It is flat file database? as far as i know. > You seem to imply that it is some kind of free-form text database. yes, that is the term, 'free-form text', i just couldn't think of it. > A SQL RDMS might be poorly suited to a free-form test system. Oracle this is what i was afraid off, but, if i can rearange the stored information, into some sort of meaningfull 'schema', i'm hoping to be abble to get away with it so to speak. > has a cool ConText package that provides nice free-form text indexing and > searching, but it is very costly and kinda of useless if you aren't going > to be using the rest of Oracle too. 'fraid not, teh client is a not-for-profit outfit govt funded to provide information to disabled people about things that disabled people want to know about .. services, availability of same, contacts for govt depts, where services are located, etc, etc, etc, etc. unless the actuall database is striped and only the raw data is stored thier is not that much data (2 to 3 meg topside). it is not a 'big' job, just sort of confusing, not to say the hardest part being to work out which database engine will be the 'best' to use. one person has suggested postgresql. it has a field called a 'tuple' that can handle textual data and can index same, sounds promicing. i will get post* a bit later on tonight and start to read. i realise that it may be over the top, very much overkill. but, as most database admins findout really quickly .. give a user a taste and they soon want more, more and more, grin. so with this view i'm looking to long term functionality, as well as scalability. regards and thank you. jonathan -- =============================================================================== Jonathan Michaels PO Box 144, Rosebery, NSW 1445 Australia =========================================================== To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-database" in the body of the message