Thanks for the article! Hierarchy functionality is always tricky, and this just might simplify it. I'll need to play around with it.

I'm wondering if this solves the complexities inherent in the adjacency model we all know and love so well /sarcasm.

Is there talk about this being a new ansi standard, or it is destined to be a vendor specific implementation? I'll use it either way, but more convenient if cross platform compatibility is at least an option.

I also like Change Data Capture for ETL, it's very convenient and powerful. And the new Merge syntax is sweet, and does away with multiple source updates to the same destination.

It seemed like English was your second language, which is awesome, good job. However, you might want to get a native speaking English person to act only as editor; your articles will be stronger for it.