Re: [GENERAL] Completely new and discovering PostGresSql

> Hi everyone,
>
> I've been using MS Sql Server for the last 4 years on NT and I am quite
> fed-up with it.
> So I am now seriously considering a move towards LINUX and I investigate
> the serious DB offering and PostgreSql Seems to come as a really strong
> candidate.
>
> however I have some question, which I hope you will not mind answering :
>
> A. In SQl server I use a LOT of stored procedures which to me are a good
> way to isolate the front end from the 'business logic'. In order to use
> those Stored procedures one has to be able to create variables, cursors
> (even outside a transaction). What would be the equivalent in
> PostGresSql ?

I'm currently in the progress of moving a company database from Access to
PostgreSQL, and am taking the same approach. PostgreSQL has the ability to
create functions, using variables, it's even possible to use C-code, and if
I'm not
mistaken Perl, although I have only been using native SQL and PLPGSQL
for my functions.

> B. I have seen a fair amount of projects listed on the Web site, but it
> does not say much so my question is are there any heavy users of PG so
> far (by heavy I mean db with 150+ tables, 150 users, 3000 insert/update
> transactions a day + three times as much Selects) .... and really
> business-critical apps.

For this I'd best point you to a recent discussion on this list, concerning
PostgreSQL and mission-critical-applications, since alot of information
about this
has been discussed in that thread.

> C. Any good books on PGS ?

Yep, sort of anyway. There are several documents available on the ftp-sites,
and
an online HTML-guide. I've taken the liberty to make a print-out of the
various
documents (900+ pages in total) and they have been of great help to me.

There is also a work-in-progress for a book to be published in early 2000,
although I don't know the specifics at this point. Since I will have to
check thru my
archives for that.

> D. MS Sql server 6.5 has some stupid limitations such as 16 tables max
> in a join, 16 indexes per table, 6 (I believe) levbel of cascading
> trigger. I couldnot see any of those limits in PGS but did I overlooked
> anything ?

I'm not familiar with some of the terms you mention, I have read about some
problems with Joins though, but the View-system is a very good alternative
for
me.

> E. I am confused about the NT version of PGS. Does it exists natively or
> does it requires support DLLs and libraries to work.

It is my understanding that it is possible to compile the server on NT,
using
a certain library, although I seriously advise against using NT for
mission-critical
applications. Especially since NT tends to crash when there are alot of
connections.
(example: NT news-server crashed and went down for nearly a week, after just
20
simultaneous connections)

> I realize this is quite a heavy set of questions and I thank you in
> advance for the time you'll spend answering

I just hope that the time i spent answering will one day be spent answering
my questions :)

> Didier Gasser-Morlay

Joost Roeleveld