[clean-list] Garbage collect databases

[fzuurbie@inter.nl.net]

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Dear Cleaners,

Back down to earth. Where I work, a system is being developed along the following lines. First there is an ordering data-entry program that checks the entered company code with a relational master data table. Then someone else processes the ordering data and yet another program sends the result to the company mentioned earlier, based on the address in the master data table.

Nothing exciting, so what do you think? Of course there is a program to maintain the master data, which introduces the posibility that sending fails: enter ordering data, delete the company and try to send the ordering data.

(Please hang on for another minute, I am getting to FP.)

First of all, the initial development budget is tight, so this is just how it is being programmed. The failure will simply be dumped on an operator. In a second version someone programs that a company cannot be deleted if there are outstanding orders. Then someone realizes the burden on the operator and the possible starvation: if enough orders are being entered, the company can never be deleted. Therefore a boolean is added to each company record. If the system manager wants to delete a company, s/he sets the boolean to False and the company will no longer be allowed when entering ordering data. Periodically a batch program removes the company records with the boolean set to False, which have no outstanding orders.

Things like these happen a thousand times, while it is nothing more than a garbage collection problem. A thousand times operators, analysts and programmers are loaded with work to overcome it. Also system documentation covers the particular garbage collection solution, which is essentially non-information. 

Now while FP's have adequately solved this garbage collection problem for single executables and their RAM-heap, I am not aware of any practical solution that also garbage collects database records or files. 

Does anybody know about work in this direction?

Regards Erik Zuurbier
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