One possibility of keeping records in a relational database is the relation
that one record has to other records in another table.
In a generic sense, if a certain user has created articles, then those
articles will have a reference to the user that created them. In the case
that the user quits, this reference will be invalidated, and the page is
orphaned or we say data loses its integrity.
One option is to remove all articles/posts that were created by the now
deleted user, which could mean losing data as well as any record of his/her
existence.
This may not be desirable in a number of situations.
Another option is to simply deactivate the user while retaining the user's
related records.
These are choices that are made at the start of the development of an
application, perhaps mediawiki preserves its history because it values every
record due to the nature of its purpose.
Just a possibility.
-----Original Message-----
From: mediawiki-l-bounces(a)Wikimedia.org
[mailto:mediawiki-l-bounces@Wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of David Pace
Sent: 07 September 2006 1:41 AM
To: MediaWiki announcements and site admin list
Subject: Re: [Mediawiki-l] user account deletion and no referenceconstraints
to the user table
Not being a MW developer, nor nearly educated enough with respect to
database programming (I'm learning slowly but surely!), I obviously can't
speak to their intentions nor any possible technical reason for this
particular setup.
I will, however, echo the comments of Emufarmers in saying that the features
of Mediawiki were designed with the intent of serving Wikimedia projects.
With that in mind, it's a safe bet there is some further rationale in there
somewhere.
Hopefully somebody with more insight might share with us.
Dave Pace
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