WikiDB

WikiDB is a MediaWiki extension which can be used to add database functionality to your wiki. Its core principal is to do this whilst still following a wiki-like workflow for creating and managing data. Data is therefore defined in-page via the standard editing process and, just as you can create links to pages that don't exist, you can put data into a table that doesn't exist, and you are able to display and query that data without requiring any formal structure to be defined.

By creating a table definition, however, you get to force fields to a certain data-type, define fields as aliases of each other (e.g. if different articles use a different name to refer to the same field) and easily flag up unexpected fields that may have been added in error. Changing the field definition instantly updates all data output on the wiki, however the original data is left unmodified. This means that schema changes will never result in data being lost or corrupted.

Because WikiDB allows you to define data on any page, the data can be located directly within the article it relates to. It is therefore easy to find, and there is no problem ensuring it stays up-to-date as the article changes. By default, WikiDB hides the raw data at the point that it is defined, on the assumption that you will output it in aggregated form elsewhere. However you also have the option of outputting it in a standard tabular form or to pass the fields as parameters to a template for in-line display (so if your wiki makes extensive use of infoboxes, it will be easy to update it so this data goes into a table as well).

For more information, see the documentation, below.

News

Version 3 is now available

• Click here to download (zip file)
• Installation instructions

This is the first update to WikiDB for about a year and a half, partly due to a very busy life, and partly due to this being quite a major reworking of some of the core internals. This new version includes the following new features:

• Proper alias resolution (you can now rename tables and watch as the data magically follows the redirect).
• An extension of the <data> tag which allows you to define multiple data rows within a single tag.
• Fixes to the sorting/filtering algorithm so that the <repeat> tag now works a lot better (and hopefully a lot faster!).
• Updated the way parsing works when saving a page. It is now a lot less hacky and less likely to break if the MW parser object is updated. It also now ensures the article is parsed consistently in all cases (previously it was done differently when saving to when viewing the page, which in some rare cases could result in a mismatch between the data you see and what is actually in the DB).
• A number of display bugs are now fixed, particularly in relation to the way the SourceArticle field was output.
• Much less chance of SQL injection.
• We now have maintenance scripts! No more copy/paste SQL! No more null edits to fix parsing issues!
• A whole load of other little bug fixes, and a general code cleanup.
• No doubt some other little bits I've forgotten.

The documentation on this wiki has not yet been updated (apart from the installation instructions), but I am working on it... In the meantime, you're advised to check the last edit date of any information, before treating it as gospel! :-)

-- 00:30, 12 September 2010 (BST)

<repeat> syntax

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

• Getting Started:
  • Tutorial - Read this first!
  • Features - A list of the extension's current and planned functionality.
  • Installation - Everything you need to know to get the extension working.
  • License - CC-BY-SA 2.5
• Using WikiDB:
  • Syntax - Current syntax for all elements of the extension.
  • Data types - A list of currently supported data types.
• Administering WikiDB:
  • Configuration settings
  • Maintenance scripts
• Support:
  • Bugs - Please report any bugs here.
  • Feature requests - Add any suggestions for new features to this page.
  • ToDo List - My list of planned features, and general (non-bug) issues that need fixing.

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.