Arrays and "goodness" in RDBMSs (was Re: join of array)

On Fri, 2003-08-15 at 12:41, Joe Conway wrote:
> Tom Lane wrote:
> > That's about as clear as mud :-( ... but I found a clearer statement
> > in SQL99 6.31:
> >
> > 2) If <array concatenation> is specified, then:
> >
> > a) Let AV1 be the value of <array value expression 1> and let AV2 be
> > the value of <array value expression 2>.
> >
> > b) If either AV1 or AV2 is the null value, then the result of the
> > <array concatenate function> is the null value.
> >
> > c) Otherwise, the result is the array comprising every element of AV1
> > followed by every element of AV2.
> >
> > (c) seems to be pretty clearly what Pavel wants for the 1-D case, but
> > it's not immediately clear how to apply it to multidimensional
> > arrays.
> >
>
> Thanks -- I found the corresponding paragraph in SQL200x (6.35) and it
> pretty much reads the same.

Why are arrays even mentioned in the the same breath wrt relations
DBMSs? Aren't they an anathema to all we know and love?

--
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| Ron Johnson, Jr. Home: ron(dot)l(dot)johnson(at)cox(dot)net |
| Jefferson, LA USA |
| |
| "Man, I'm pretty. Hoo Hah!" |
| Johnny Bravo |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+