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Thought for the day #4

djberg96 on 2004-08-04T20:00:56

Whoever made column names case sensitive in Sybase deserves a gruesome death.

Hmm

vsergu on 2004-08-04T22:06:46

But surely the person who created the table with inconsistently capitalized columns deserves some punishment as well? And why are case-sensitive column names worse than case-sensitive variable names or file names?

Re:Hmm

djberg96 on 2004-08-04T22:58:51

And why are case-sensitive column names worse than case-sensitive variable names or file names?

With variable names and file names, it's just easier to remember. With SQL, I'm constantly having to refer back to the column names to make sure I have them right. Also, we setup a transparent gateway with Oracle, but the case sensitivity means you have to wrap all of the column names in double quotes, so it's extra typing.

That, perhaps, is a bit "fluffy", but I cannot think of a good reason to have case sensitive column names. I mean, are you really going to create two columns in the same table with the same name, differing only by case? Hell no! So, what's the point then? But, as jplindstrom points out (I think), it seems to be a generic setting that affects more than just column names.

Oh, and on Windows, file names aren't case sensitive. :-P

Re: Thought for the day #4

jplindstrom on 2004-08-04T22:08:59

In Sybase you decide on sort-order when creating the dataserver (oracle-speak: instance, kind of). The sort-order can be case sensitive or insensitive.

It's used for the sys% tables as well, which is why you have that problem.

Re: Thought for the day #4

djberg96 on 2004-08-04T22:20:06

Well, it wasn't *me* who setup this database. At least it's configurable.