Paragon Papers and Articles

PostgreSQL - Recursive table returning functions

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2008-03-16

In a prior article we discussed how to use PostgreSQL user-defined functions to solve the recursive tree problem and return a concatenated string of the result. In this article we demonstrate how to return the value in a table instead of as a string.

Table-Driven and Data Driven Programming

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2007-09-07

Discusses what table and data-driven programming is and how it is used.

What is a cross tab query and how do you create one using a relational database?

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2006-12-26

In this article we will define what a cross-tab query is and how to create one. We will provide examples for Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, PostGreSQL, and MySQL, Oracle

Brief Summary of Popular Database Systems

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2006-10-31

This upcoming year will prove to be an exciting one for database technology. Many database vendors are coming out with milestone versions of their DBMS systems.

This article covers the primary database systems we use and what each holds in store this year. While we can't cover all databases here, we'll cover the ones we are most familiar with. We will cover what their current state is and what their future direction is. We will focus our attention on MySQL, PostGreSQL, and SQL Server

SQL Cheat Sheet: Query By Example - Part 2

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2006-06-03

In this article, we'll cover some more SQL tricks for accomplishing tasks such as getting the details of the newest record from a relational database.

Choice Between Stored Procedures, Functions, Views, Triggers, Inline SQL (updated)

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2005-11-30

There has been a lot of debates around when to use stored procedures vs. raw sql. Many purists are vehemently on one side of the fence or the other. Strangely people talk about views to a lesser extent. Stored functions and triggers are almost nonexistent in these debates. In this article we'll try to provide a non-biased outline of the benefits and pitfalls of each approach.

SQL Cheat Sheet: Query By Example

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2005-07-02

In this sql cheatsheet we will provide some common query questions asked and SQL solutions to these questions. Most of these examples are fairly standard ANSI-SQL so should work on most relational databases such as PostGreSQL, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Microsoft Access. Some examples involving subselects or complex joins may not work in most versions of MySQL and some versions of Microsoft Access

Using PostgreSQL User-Defined Functions to solve the Tree Problem

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2004-02-15

In a prior article we discussed how to use SQL Server's user-defined functions to solve the recursive tree problem. In the SQL version we solved the common who reports to who problem. In this article we demonstrate how to solve the classic tree problem using PostGreSQL user-defined functions. We will use a different example.

Separation of Business Logic from Presentation Logic in Web Applications (ASP.NET and PHP)

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2003-07-19

In this article we contrast and compare two approaches for separating business logic from presentation logic using two of our favorite web development languages: The template approach commonly used in PHP and the Code-behind approach found in ASP.NET.

Databases: Past, Present, and Future

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2003-06-13

This article is dedicated in memory of Edgar F. Codd - Father of Modern Relational Database Theory. In this article we will delve into the history of databases - how it started, where the industry is now and what its potential achievements will be.

Calling Webservices from ASP.NET: Example Google Web Service

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2003-03-14

We describe what a web service is, how to call webservices in ASP.NET. We provide the Google Search web service as an example.

Guidelines for a Successful Application

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2002-10-15

This article provides some general guidelines for building a good Application. These lessons are based on our personal experiences and observations. Note that many of these guidelines may contradict what "Experts" will tell you.

Tagging Along with ASP.NET, JSP and ColdFusion

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2002-10-07

In this article we focus on using server-side tags in web programming. We compare three offerings and how they approach server tags.

PostgreSQL: An Open-Source Object Relational Database Management System (ORDBMS)

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2002-06-04

In this article we will delve into the features of the PostgreSQL object-relational database environment and what makes it special. We will focus on features that make PostgreSQL different from most relational database management systems (RDBMS).

Web Programming with PHP - Why choose PHP?

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2001-12-20

In our article Active Server Pages (ASP), Java Server Pages (JSP), Cold Fusion (CFM) - A comparative analysis., We neglected to include PHP. PHP is a language that has been around for a few years and that appears to be gaining quite a bit of popularity.

Rendering the results of an Access Database in Excel (The code)

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2001-08-11

This is an accompaniment to the article

Rendering the results of an Access Database in Excel

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2001-08-11

In this article we will demonstrate how to populate an excel spreadsheet with data from an Access database

Using SQL Server 2000's User Defined Function to solve the Tree Problem

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2001-04-16

In this article we demonstrate how to solve the classic "Who does an employee" report to problem using SQL Server 2000's new User-defined function feature

Summarizing data with SQL (Structured Query Language)

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2000-09-08

This article provides a brief SQL How-to on how to summarize data. Most of the examples we provide will be based on the ANSI-SQL 92 standard. Some examples will show features specific to SQL Server 7.

Active Server Pages (ASP), Java Server Pages (JSP), Cold Fusion (CFM) - A comparative analysis

Paragon Corporation (mailto:support@paragoncorporation.com) — 2000-04-26

In this article we provide a comparison of 3 server side scripting technologies by detailing the main features of each. We end with a comparison chart that ranks each by ease of use, capability, and costs.