3 ms·

A file is more than simply a unit or collection of data in a local hierarchy. It's an abstraction that supports the copying, exchange and even possession of dat

A file is more than simply a unit or collection of data in a local hierarchy. It's an abstraction that supports the copying, exchange and even possession of data. How is one supposed to share part of a database with another system or user without ultimately resorting to the file metaphor?

klodolph 6y ago
> How is one supposed to share part of a database with another system or user without ultimately resorting to the file metaphor? It is exceptionally difficult to share a database using files. This is probably one of the worst ways to share a database. Most of the time, the best you can do is take a snapshot of the database, dump it to a file, and import it into another system. Generally you would want to share a database by granting multiple users access to a single running instance.
- sizt 6y ago
  Well, SQLite is the most prevalent database on the planet, and its a file so ... https://sqlite.org/fileformat2.html https://sqlite.org/fileformat2.html
webmaven 6y ago
> How is one supposed to share part of a database with another system or user without ultimately resorting to the file metaphor? With an access-controlled view, perhaps? Your question isn't entirely academic, incidentally, the Open Data movement prompted a lot of organizations (particularly government or government-like ones) to address this sort of issue (especially with geodata) en masse starting about a decade ago, and providing snapshots in the form of downloadable files is generally seen as an important but generally inferior when-all-else-fails solution for most use-cases that don't involve forking the data and/or bulk-processing it into a new form. Live read-only access to the system of record or a DMZ'd proxy or cache is usually preferred. And the Semantic Web / Linked Open Data movement addressed a similar set of issues two decades ago. I suppose it's time for another turn if the wheel, perhaps with a distributed web twist.

klodolph 6y ago

> How is one supposed to share part of a database with another system or user without ultimately resorting to the file metaphor? It is exceptionally difficult to share a database using files. This is probably one of the worst ways to share a database. Most of the time, the best you can do is take a snapshot of the database, dump it to a file, and import it into another system. Generally you would want to share a database by granting multiple users access to a single running instance.

sizt 6y ago
Well, SQLite is the most prevalent database on the planet, and its a file so ... https://sqlite.org/fileformat2.html https://sqlite.org/fileformat2.html

webmaven 6y ago

> How is one supposed to share part of a database with another system or user without ultimately resorting to the file metaphor? With an access-controlled view, perhaps? Your question isn't entirely academic, incidentally, the Open Data movement prompted a lot of organizations (particularly government or government-like ones) to address this sort of issue (especially with geodata) en masse starting about a decade ago, and providing snapshots in the form of downloadable files is generally seen as an important but generally inferior when-all-else-fails solution for most use-cases that don't involve forking the data and/or bulk-processing it into a new form. Live read-only access to the system of record or a DMZ'd proxy or cache is usually preferred. And the Semantic Web / Linked Open Data movement addressed a similar set of issues two decades ago. I suppose it's time for another turn if the wheel, perhaps with a distributed web twist.