Am 23.03.12 17:23, schrieb Ian Walls:
According to rule SQL6 of our Coding Guidelines ( http://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/Coding_Guidelines#Database), backquotes are not acceptable, as they are a MySQL-ism. Part of the duty of QA is to verify that the coding guidelines are met, so it is reasonable to say that such markings *should* be stripped out of any new incoming patches. As to whether having them results in a "Failed QA" or a followup/rebased patch from a QA team member is up to the discretion and availability of that team member.
I know I've been a little lax with this one, as we're still rife with backquotes in our SQL, and one or two more lines aren't going to add any significant additional work to our cleanup efforts. My primary interest is consistency, because it makes for easier to read and maintain code. Once we have done the majority of this cleanup, I'll become stricter about backquotes.
The ultimate goal here, to the best of my understanding, is database independence, of which PostgreSQL support is a consequence. We should do our best to adhere to standards in all regards; by following SQL standard practices, we give ourselves more flexibility and adaptability, and decrease the overall potential workload throughout time.
It is on my todo lists to very soon go through the code and provide a patch that removes the backquotes. I think we are on a good road now, and I try to provide small patches, that address one single problem each. While database independence is a noble goal, it is not achievable. You can support some databases, but not all, at least if you want to use some of the more advanced features a DB system has to offer you. And in an advanced and large application like Koha is, you probably want that. My guess is, that adding support for a second database will show what can be done and what not.