Database Administrators Stack Exchange
Database Administrators Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [feature-comparison]

Examining a capability of something to determine its functionality, pros, and cons with respect to a similar alternative.

A feature comparison could include a comparison of one method of doing something with another or one capability of a system with another. Care should be taken to define the requirements so that only relevant pros and cons need be mentioned.

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When to use NULL and when to use an empty string?

I'm interested mainly in MySQL and PostgreSQL, but you could answer the following in general: Is there a logical scenario in which it would be useful to distinguish an empty string from NULL? What would be the physical storage implications for…
Maniero
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Does SQL Server support GREATEST and LEAST, if not what is the common workaround?

Reviewing this question it seems like that's a lot of work that shouldn't be needed. They're trying to extend a range with a date. In other databases, you would just use greatest and least.. least(extendDate,min), greatest(extendDate,max) When I…
Evan Carroll
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Mnesia: advantages and differences

What are the advantages of Mnesia over major SQL database implementations and how it differs to them? Can I use the database to hold really huge amounts of data without noticeable performance degradation ?
Yasir Arsanukayev
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Why won't some DBMS's allow rollback for certain DDL statements?

Recently I found out that MySQL doesn't support rollback of DDL such as "alter table"... Being used to PostgreSQL, that struck me as odd, but a friend of mine told me that even Oracle doesn't allow it.. Are there technical reasons for not supporting…
Joril
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Traversing tree-like data in a relational database using SQL

Is there a way to traverse tree data in SQL? I know about connect by in Oracle, but is there another way to do this in other SQL implementations? I'm asking because using connect by is easier than writing a loop or recursive function to run the…
indyK1ng
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What other databases have a feature similar to Oracle's Flashback Query?

I am interested to know what other databases have features similar to Oracle's Flashback Query. It would seem that any database that supports MVCC could have the feature, but which do? SO has this question for SQL Server, but it seems more…
Leigh Riffel
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Redgate SQL Compare vs Visual Studio 2010 Premium/Ultimate database project

I currently use the Visual Studio Professional Edition which has the database project as a project template, but some of its features are not available, for example Schema Compare tool. The schema comparison and database update scripts generation…
rem
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PostgreSQL vs. MySQL: spatial feature comparison

We are the in the process of building out a web application that has a spatial data component. In the beginning our spatial data comparisons will take a given point and return matched overlapping spatial polygons. That being said, our database has…
Ryan Charmley
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What features of Oracle make it an attractive choice for small projects?

Given Oracle's licensing handling[a] (and, to a lesser extent, cost) I have always been wondering what the deciding factors would be for choosing Oracle over PostgreSQL or MySQL. My company is nearly always choosing Oracle (XE where possible), even…
Martin
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SQL Server equivalent to functionality of Oracle RAC?

I did some Googling and couldn't find an answer to this question more recent than a few years ago, so I thought I'd ask. Oracle's RAC feature offers load-balancing for both read and write transactions, as well as scale-out and high-availability…
SqlRyan
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Are there any database engines which will intuit the join condition based on the existing foreign keys?

It seems strange to me that, when I've defined a foreign key, the engine cannot use this information to automatically figure out the correct JOIN expressions, but instead requires me to re-type the same clauses. Are there any databases, perhaps some…
TML
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MariaDB and MySQL versions equivalence

Is there any kind of equivalence between MariaDB versions and MySQL versions? Obviously the 2 DBMS are different, but I was hoping the MariaDB team to "catch up" with MySQL when starting a new major version (like 10.2, 10.3...). Equivalence…
Déjà vu
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Where can I find example databases for MySQL, SQL Server and Oracle?

I want to experiment with the 3 large database management systems. For this purpose it would be cool to have the same database (the same tables, etc.) for each of those. Where can I find sql scripts which create identical test databases for MySQL,…
Michael
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Which database engines will allow me to GRANT/REVOKE on a specific column?

If I have a table with a single column of sensitive data, and I want to grant broad use of the table without exposing that one column, I know that I can create a VIEW that gives them access to all the non-sensitive columns. However, PostgreSQL…
TML
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In Oracle, can we restore a database onto the same instance with a different name?

In SQL server I can restore a database onto the same instance with a different name. Eg: If there is a database DB_prod, I can take a full backup and restore it on the same instance with a different name like DB_test. Is a similar task possible with…
StanleyJohns
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