[R] Ordered factors and DBMS

[Frank E Harrell Jr]

As someone mentioned in a previous posting, the inherent ENUM and
SET data types in MySQL give it an advantage in this area.
I am just starting to work on a project in which XML
Metadata specifies a MySQL database (including factor
levels for ENUM and SET (multiple choice instead of single)
fields).  This metadata will later drive some "smart"
import functions in R that will make such variables
immediately analyzable and self-documenting.  Some 
mocked-up examples are at the end of the slides from
a talk I recently gave, available at
http://hesweb1.med.virginia.edu/biostat/dm

I prefer to use the inherent data types rather than
making factor labels reside in a separate SQL table.

I have only just begun to look at RMySQL documentation.
Does RMySQL fetch SET variables as binary integers 
such that selected choices can be sensed once
the bit mapping is known?

Frank Harrell


Jason Turner wrote:
> 
> Additions to Doug Bates' suggestions
> 
> > ... it could be expressed naturally as two tables and a
> > join.  The first table would contain the data as factor levels and the
> > second table would give the correspondence between levels and labels.
> 
> I think this is probably the most clear and elegant way to do it.
> 
> > Another possibility is to define a PostgreSQL data type for this.
> 
> See the PosgreSQL documentation for "CREATE TYPE".
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Jason
> --
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-- 
Frank E Harrell Jr              Prof. of Biostatistics & Statistics
Div. of Biostatistics & Epidem. Dept. of Health Evaluation Sciences
U. Virginia School of Medicine  http://hesweb1.med.virginia.edu/biostat
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