[Babase] Dumptext and dump_as_text for Karl

Catherine Markham amarkham at princeton.edu
Wed Feb 15 15:11:13 EST 2006


Hi Karl,

I just finished going through the dump_as_text and dumptext files.  Once 
I got started, I realized that I wasn't totally sure I understood your 
directions from yesterday.  Here's what I did - if it wasn't what you 
had in mind, let me know and I can give it another shot if necessary.

For some reason, I had thought you wanted us to compare dumptext against 
dump_as_text.  When I got into it, though, I realized that of course the 
two shouldn't match given the changes to database design/structure that 
go along with the conversion.  Right?  So I compared dumptext to what's 
in FoxPro Babase now (I opened up each table in Babase and checked 
column names).  I think when I had originally given you the list of 
queries when I was first hired, I had compiled everything using the 
Babase diagram (can't say for sure, though).  In any event, I compared 
dump_as_text to the column names/descriptions in the online 
documentation.  A common mismatch that I noticed was the omission of the 
unique table id - maybe there's a reason for that, but I listed each one 
I noticed anyway.

Finally, just a "disclaimer" to my checking... some of the query 
structure you used is new to me, so I just did my best to check column 
names and logic.  Can't say I totally understood it all, though, and so 
no guarantees that I would've been able to catch all typos.

Let me know if any of this doesn't make sense.

Thanks,
Catherine



Possibly missing from dumptext:

1.  In RNKTYPES, did you mean to exclude the column for Query?

2.  In GROUPS, did you mean to exclude the column for Lettercode?

3.  In JPSAMPS and FPSAMPS, what about Datetime?


Possibly missing from dump_as_text:

1.  In GROUPS, you list columns for start, finish, and status but I did 
not see these listed/described in the documentation.  Also, do we really 
want 2 columns called status in the database?

2.  In CYCLES, what about Series?

3.  In SEXSKINS, what about Sxid?

4.  In BIOGRAPH, what about Bioid?

5.  In SAMPLES, I saw your note to leave off the Stype but does that 
also mean Stime and Programid should have been excluded?

6.  In INTERACT, does it matter that the documentation refers to the 
table as INTERACT_DATA?  Also, is Sid captured in the query?

7.  In PARTS, what about Partid?

8.  In POINTS as both JPSAMPS and FPSAMPS, what about Min?  Also, as 
with INTERACT, does it matter that the documentation refers to the table 
as POINTS_DATA?

9.  In NEIGHBORS as both JPNEIGHBORS and FPNEIGHBORS, what about Nghid?

10.  In ADLIBS, what about Almid?


Questions/Other inconsistencies:

1.  In terms of listing all the columns in a particular table, BIOGRAPH 
in dumptext is missing a few but I figure this is just because you took 
those missing columns (like matured, dispersed, etc.) and queried them 
separately.

2.  I noticed that when you click on "GROUPS" in the documentation (both 
in the first, more general table of contents and also under the Chapter 
3 heading and specific table of contents there), it seems like the user 
is redirected to a different discussion of groups (user group and data 
permission type stuff as opposed to the GROUPS table).  The subsections 
of the GROUPS link make sense to me.  Is this a mistake in where the 
anchor was placed?


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