Difference between revisions of "WikiDB"

Revision as of 00:50, 10 December 2008

This extension implements a wiki-style database within your wiki. You can define tables, enter data and run queries using wiki markup, and all of these things are independent of each other.

Three things to bear in mind before going any further:

1. This is in an early stage of development. Core functionality is in place, but many planned features are currently lacking.
2. The syntax is currently fairly long-winded for certain tasks. This will be streamlined (suggestions welcome) but it is sufficient for proof-of-concept.
3. There has been very little optimisation, and there is a lot of potential for it. I welcome advice on this matter, but do not be put off by speed/efficiency of the current version.

News

I am holding a consultation about the syntax of the repeat tag, as the more I think about it the more I realise that there is probably not a 'perfect' solution, but instead a 'best compromise' between simplicity, brevity, flexibility and readability. Anyone who would like to input on this should do so on the Repeat tag syntax page. --HappyDog 23:50, 9 December 2008 (GMT)

Documentation

• Tutorial - read this first!
• Features - A list of the extension's current and planned functionality.
• Data types - A list of currently supported data types.
• Installation - What you need to do to get the extension working.
• Syntax - Current syntax for all elements of the extension.
• ToDo List - My list of planned features, and general (non-bug) issues that need fixing.
• Bugs - Please report any bugs here.

Requirements

Currently this extension probably just requires MW 1.4.0 and above, but that is very much untested. In practice I was developing on 1.5.8 initially, and now on 1.6.10 - so it probably works fine on 1.5.x and 1.6.x (though this may change). It should also be fine on later versions of MW, but this has not been tested by me.

If you are a user of the extension, it would be very useful if you could add yourself to the Compatibility page so I can get an idea of where problems may lie, and what also which older versions I might need to support if I decide to upgrade the minimum requirements.

Versions

The version-numbering system I have adopted is based on two numbers:

• The version number is incremented whenever incompatible changes are made. If you are using WikiDB and wish to upgrade to a new version with a higher version number, check out the list of changes first, or things may break! The version number can be seen on Special:Version or at the top of the main WikiDB.php file.
• The revision number is incremented every time I make any changes at all to the code, or to other unrelated code that sits in the same repository. The revision number for each file can be seen at the top of the file, and the revision number for the extension is the highest of these numbers. This is displayed at Special:Version. It is always safe to upgrade to a later revision, as long as the version number has not changed, and you ensure that all files are updated.

In both cases, the only significance of the numbers are that higher numbers are newer. I don't believe in sitting on a 0.x release branch for the rest of my life, so the first version I released is v1, and this will be updated as necessary according to the above rule.

If your version of the code doesn't have a version number, it is v1. If it doesn't have a revision either, it is very old and should definitely be updated!

Technical Info

• Tables - Details about the new tables that are required by the extension.
• Files - Listings of all the files required by the extension.