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Subject:Re: Compare Thee to a Database From:Tim Altom <taltom -at- IQUEST -dot- NET> Date:Tue, 1 Jul 1997 14:52:45 -0500
At 03:43 PM 7/1/97 -0400, you wrote:
>The manual that I am developing is for a GUI database application. In the
>preliminary section, I am attempting explain databases to a non-technical
>audience using simple metaphors, but my creativity is coming up a little
>dry. How would you complete the following sentence if you knew that your
>audience were (was?) a bunch of attorneys whose computer skills were
>novice at best:
>
>"A database is like..." (the Forrest Gump--box of chocolates--thing won't
>work. I already tried!)
>
>Be as creative and abstract as you want, but keep in mind that the idea is
>to convey a concept clearly, quickly, and easily.
>
>Any comments that you submit I will consider and possibly use, so if you
>don't want your idea to be public domain, keep it to yourself (smile).
>
>Thanks for your help!!!
>
The analogy I often use is pigeonholes, like the ones in old rolltop desks.
A database is actually just a line of pigeonholes, one hole for each block
of data, like a first name, a social security number, or a zip code. Each
hole is a "field". For each new "record", the computer creates a new line of
pigeonholes, a strip of "fields". Stack this line of pigeonholes on another,
similar line of pigeonholes and keep doing that until you've gotten all your
data in. The trick then is to know how to search all the pigeonholes and
then assemble some kind of report of what's in all of them.
Tim Altom
Vice President, Simply Written, Inc.
317.899.5882 (voice) 317.899.5987 (fax)
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