> SQL deals with "sets" SQL deals with tables, and all operations are working on tables. However... these tables are bags of rows, not sets, as evidenced by:

> SQL deals with "sets" SQL deals with tables, and all operations are working on tables. However... these tables are bags of rows, not sets, as evidenced by: 1. "distinct" transforms bags into sets 2. "union all" preserves bags 3. the ability to create a table with no primary key, allowing entirely duplicate rows in a table 4. the ability to select columns not including a primary key, allowing duplicate rows in the resulting table > ... which are unordered While (base) tables themselves guarantee no order: 1. every "select" is itself returning a table, which can absolutely have an order. 2. a "view" is a (derived) table, and it can guarantee an order 3. aggregate functions rely on ordering > I think this is an excellent design. Your approach would be an excellent design.