Mel,
> Thanks. I created a plpgsql function that works but I'll take your advice
> and do it in C.
Yeah. I had a few thoughts about doing it in SQL, but they all involved
unanchored text searches ... with consequent super-sucky performance.
> Hopefully, I'll find a way to justify the hiring of true DBA. It has always
> been a *challenge* for the companies I've worked for because DBA = cost. Oh
> well, maybe it's because I got the job done anyhow from their point of view.
> =) Hmmm.. welcome to the Third World.
Well, your company is hardly the first to act penny-wise and thousand$-foolish
in terms of expensing a project; most of my $200/hour DBA consulting gigs
come from companies whose database was royally screwed up for 6months- 1 year
and they finally got tired of it.
> I was actually made to comply to adopt the darned schema because of the
> faster reply despite the setbacks I'm (we were) well aware of. We're in
> this business where we could get a million hits in a span of a few minutes
> and we need to reply to these hits ASAP or we lose more potential traffic
> which meant lost potential revenue. Yes, we earn from the traffic.
There are ways around this that don't involve denormalization of the central
data tables. "Cache tables" for one, with deferred processing for permanent
storage.
> The SQL solution would be good stock knowledge for future reference but then
> again, hopefully I wouldn't have to use it anymore. =)
OK, I'll try when I can.
> With the help of the Postgres lists, the documentation that's getting better
> and better, ArsDigita's and now RedHat's OpenACS (and in the future the
> Postgres books I've already ordered), I've made tremendous progress from 0
> knowledge in RDBMS specifically in Postgres. So, thanks to you guys and
> hopefully you don't get tired of replying to the questions because they sure
> help a lot.
Please also check out the book review list. Particularly, Fabian Pascal's
book is a must for you.
http://techdocs.postgresql.org/bookreviews.php
--
-Josh Berkus
Aglio Database Solutions
San Francisco