> Sometimes (and I realize I need to be more specific) it seems the very
> thing you are looking for you can't find; in the end that generally has
> been an issue of inexperience with SQL.
Exactly. I'm learning SQL and PostgreSQL at the same time and it is
sometimes difficult for me to correctly assess what belongs with each. My
recent GRANT/REVOKE question was like this. I didn't think for a minute
that would be handled by SQL since databases were created and destroyed by
PostgreSQL utilities.
> It seems to me, though, that there needs to be some sort of
> documentation that takes a beginner write through the whole system step
> by step and never leaving out the gory details, explaining things piece
> by piece, until at the end of this the user has become an "expert".
Yes! I'm the loan PostgreSQL user here. In fact, I'm the only person
playing with a database. I'm the (completely unqualified) "expert" in the
building.
> Again, I need to be more specific, and as I mull over this I might be
> able to be that, but now, I don't see documentation that is really
> designed to take someone who doesn't know squat about SQL and get them
> to the point where they are "experts". Perhaps that is not PostgreSQL's
> problem, but it would be nice.
>
> Of course, if your write it, it doesn't mean they will read it ;-)
Tutorials get read. References get read if they're organized well enough
where the answer is found within a minute or two. Somebody who doesn't
know the proper term still has to be able to find the answer. That's
tricky, but those are the references which all people admire. Cross
referencing is essential. One of my favorite parts of the man pages is the
"See Also" section. This is because I usually get in the ball park on the
first try, but not exactly to the right page.
Bruce Tong | Got me an office; I'm there late at night.
Systems Programmer | Just send me e-mail, maybe I'll write.
Electronic Vision / FITNE |
zztong@laxmi.ev.net | -- Joe Walsh for the 21st Century