RE: [xml-dev] ISO and the Standards Golden Hammer (was Re:[xml-d ev] You call that a standard?)

Looks like data dictionaries are making a comeback. Seem very useful 
to me. I don't recall seeing a rule that said if one has an xml 
schema one can't also have a matching data dictionary, or vice versa.

Ciao,
Rex

At 1:56 PM -0500 5/2/04, Bullard, Claude L (Len) wrote:
>It was the IDEs and the position that if the code validated the
>file, who needed a data dictionary?   Just had that discussion
>with a programmer and his manager last week.  The programmer
>considers it just a document to show a customer.  Our certification
>chief has other ideas.  Our manager thinks it is the best way
>to keep lots of independent minded, IDE equipped staff in line.
>
>len
>
>
>From: Michael Kay [mailto:]
>
>>  Worse, the "data dictionary" fad was heavily in force
>>  in those days and even the vaguely meaningful "LYNR" was being
>>  replaced by indecipherable crud like "A0942B"...
>
>I'm surprised at this perception. My recollection is that when data
>dictionaries were popular, everyone knew they had to call it
>"LAST_YEARS_NET_REVENUE" rather than every programmer making up their own
>cryptic abbreviation; what's more, every screen that it appeared on used the
>same validation rules. I've always felt that the data dictionary was one of
>the good ideas of the 1980s that we've lost. An XML Schema is a partial
>substitute, but a very poor one.
>
>Perhaps it's another European idea that never really caught on in the
>States. Certainly, it was the advent of the RDBMS that caused its demise.
>
>Michael Kay
>
>
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-- 
Rex Brooks
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