Joe Celko has looked deep into the code of SQL programmers and found a consistent and troubling pattern - a frightening lack of consistency between their individual encoding schemes and those of the industries in which they operate. This translates into a series of incompatible databases, each one an island unto itself that is unable to share information with others in an age of internationalization and business interdependence. Such incompatibility severely hinders information flow and the quality of company data. Data, Measurements and Standards in SQL reveals the shift these programmers need to make to overcome this deadlock. By collecting and detailing the diverse standards of myriad industries, and then giving a declaration for the units that can be used in an SQL schema, Celko enables readers to write and implement portable data that can interface to any number of external application systems! This book doesn't limit itself to one subject, but serves as a detailed synopsis of measurement scales and data standards for all industries, thereby giving RDBMS programmers and designers the knowledge and know-how they need to communicate effectively across business boundaries.