[Info-vax] Unexpected DECnet Phase IV functionality with possible captive account implications

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 5/12/2021 8:17 AM, Simon Clubley wrote:
> On 2021-05-11, Stephen Hoffman <seaohveh at hoffmanlabs.invalid> wrote:
>> And in more general terms, I am un-fond of exposing the database
>> structures remotely whether by classic FAL and RMS or file share or
>> otherwise, as that makes modifications more difficult.
> 
> Agreed. It would have been nicer if RMS indexed files were treated
> as a series of structured fields instead of as an indexed version
> of a punched card.

I would say no to that.

One could say that it would be nice if a car could fly, but then
it would be an airplane not a car.

The functionality provided is common functionality.

40 years ago all OS had something like this (VMS, IBM mainframe,
CDC, ICL etc.). Even Unix got DBM.

Today new implementations are being developed. It is just called
NoSQL Key Value Store today but is really the same thing. All
the modern internet companies use such technology and many invented
new implementations (Google - LevelDB, Facebook - RocksDB,
LinkedIn - Voldemort).

It is required functionality. We should not get rid of it.

It is not the best choice as frequently as it was. If I were
to provide some random numbers then I would say that best choice
distribution has changed like below.

40 years ago:
- 20% RDBMS
- 80% ISAM/index-sequential file

Today:
- 70% RDBMS
- 20% NoSQL Document Store
- 10% NoSQL Key Value Store

The demand still exist, so we should not get rid of it.
And changing it to do something else than storing
key(s) + value BLOB is de facto getting rid of it.

> That would also need some kind of optional record tag at RMS level
> however to identify the record layout in case someone tried to store
> records with different internal layouts into the same RMS indexed file.

Except that the ability to store different record formats in the same
file is core functionality.

Some need that.

Those that need structure should chose a tool that provides
structure and constraints. RDBMS is pretty obvious. SQLite or
other.

Arne