posted 21 years ago
Hi Ray:
I think there's a difference between an "empty database" and an "empty file". I did the URLyBird assignment, and this database defines file header and file schema information. Without the header and schema information, you don't have a valid URLyBird database (i.e., the "empty file" case). However, it is valid to have an URLyBird database that contains zero records (i.e., "empty database").
My 2 cents is that if the database lacks the header and/or schema, then shutdown the application because the database is corrupt. These fields are required to actually use the database. (Now if you want your server to support a "create database" operation, that's different.)
Tx