Re: Database Analogies

[Matthew J Long <mjl100z -at- MAIL -dot- ODU -dot- EDU>]

Tim,

When I posted the original message to this thread I was trying to come up
with an illustration to visually display the process of accessing a
database. Since I am dealing with attorneys I depicted a research
assistant physically going through shelves of papers and books to retrieve
information as per the request of the attorney. I analogized (<--please
note use of a derivational suffix '-ize') the research assistant to a
DBMS. I think that this will probably suffice, but I was hoping to find
some more creativity than I had already conjured on my own.

I don't know who it was that said it in this thread, but I would have to
agree that there really is just not that much more to it than the filing
cabinet and library metaphors.

Maybe I am just a dunce, but I was having a little trouble with the
pigeonhole thing. I am not really familiar with the term pigeonhole except
with regard to the cliche--whose origin I am not familiar with
either. Please enlighten me!

Thanks!

Matt Long

On Wed, 2 Jul 1997, Tim Altom wrote:

> At 08:52 AM 7/2/97 -0500, you wrote:
>
> >"A database is like..." (the Forrest Gump--box of chocolates--thing
> >won't
> >work. I already tried!)
> >
> As I read the various posts responding to this request, I noted something
> interesting.
>
> One question we all overlooked was "What *aspect* of a database are you
> trying to analogize?"
>
> I think it matters. My own reply, picturing a database as a matrix of
> pigeonholes, focused on the DB's schema, or structure. DB designers even use
> this mental analogy to design schemas. I still think it's the best analogy
> for structure, but it says little about how the DB is used, or why it's
> important.
>
> On the other hand, the analogies of books, filing cabinets, and the like are
> better analogies to highlight the use of a database, but are not very close
> to the actual way a database is built. For example, a true "database" file
> in a filing cabinet would have distinct places in the file folder for all
> the expected pieces of paper, just as a database has fields that reserve
> space for data even if the data isn't available yet. And a "database" file
> folder would require that pages be inserted in specific orders, and that the
> papers be consistently filled out, with strict and rigorous guidelines for
> what goes where. Books are even farther off base, structurally.
>
> The Forrest Gump example is a good one for this point. Forrest uses the
> analogy (actually a simile, of course) for how life works, not how it looks.
> It isn't that life can be viewed as a progression of lumpy, sugary treats,
> with childhood being a cherry cordial, youth being a dark chocolate, and so
> forth. Life works, rather, like the way you'd approach a box of chocolates,
> with about the same probability of getting the exact thing you wanted the
> first time out.
>
> Where else in our work should we probe deeper into the aspects we're
> actually trying to analogize? Where else have we mistakenly cast an analogy
> for function when we needed one for structure, or vice versa?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Tim Altom
> Vice President, Simply Written, Inc.
> 317.899.5882 (voice) 317.899.5987 (fax)
> FrameMaker support  ForeHelp support
> FrameMaker-to-HTML Conversions
> HTML Help Consulting and Production
>
>  TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
> to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
>    to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
>   Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
> browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
>

////////////////////////////**************************************
        Matthew J. Long
        Technical Writer
        mjl100z -at- mail -dot- odu -dot- edu
        matt -dot- long -at- justice -dot- usdoj -dot- gov

        -When you can't be eloquent, choose brevity!
********************************************************////////////

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html