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Subject: Re: [INTERFACES] A few more JDBC meta-data questions...
In-Reply-To: <1BF7C7482189D211B03F00805F8527F70ED0F1@S-NATH-EXCH2> from
	"Ansley, Michael" at "Aug 17, 1999 01:39:54 pm"
To: Michael.Ansley@intec.co.za (Ansley Michael)
Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 07:54:46 -0400 (EDT)
From: "D'Arcy" "J.M." Cain <darcy@druid.net>
Cc: pgsql-interfaces@postgreSQL.org
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Thus spake Ansley, Michael
> Most databases require that you use SQL to query for metadata.  If you are

Certainly true of PostgreSQL.

> using something like DAO on a Win32 platform, then you get a nice object
> hierarchy which you can use to discover the data model, but otherwise you
> are reduced to SQL.  And DAO can't give you a list of databases!!  This is

While SQL has its warts, it's not bad as a base.  Those queries I included
come from my PyGreSQL stuff (http://www.druid.net/pygresql/) so that I
simply do db.get_databases(), db.get_tables() or db.get_attnames(table)
to get the information.

> something that you have to have a connection for, bit of a catch22.  
> However, this can normally still be written in a reasonably modular fashion.

As someone else pointed out, you always have template1 to query against
to get the full list of databases from.

-- 
D'Arcy J.M. Cain <darcy@{druid|vex}.net>   |  Democracy is three wolves
http://www.druid.net/darcy/                |  and a sheep voting on
+1 416 424 2871     (DoD#0082)    (eNTP)   |  what's for dinner.