Beyond relational
Beyond relational is actually only a marketing term. The relational model, used in the relational database management system, is nowhere limited to specific data types or specific languages only. However, with the term "beyond relational," we typically mean specialized and complex data types that might include spatial and temporal data, XML or JSON data, and extending the capabilities of the Transact-SQL language with CLR languages such as Visual C#, or statistical languages such as R. SQL Server in versions before 2016 already supports some of the features mentioned. Here is a quick review of this support that includes:
- Spatial data
- CLR support
- XML data
Defining locations and shapes with Spatial Data
In modern applications, often you want to show your data on a map, using the physical location. You might also want to show the shape of the objects that your data describes. You can use spatial data for tasks like these. You can represent the objects with points...
