[Koha-devel] Update database changes proposal [IMPORTANT]

[Ian Walls]

We were discussing the following at hackfest:

a directory of atomic database updates.  While my intent was for .pl files,
we could adapt to include .sql, as well.  I just really like the idea of a
CHECK/DO/UNDO interface

A YAML file, edited by the RM only, that assigns those update files to a
specific database revision number.  This gives us a quick and ordered means
of determining what has been "blessed" by the release team, and allow us to
continue a quick check of "is DB version equal to software version?" on
every page.

If a user needs to make a local change, they can either apply the atomic
update file directly (for testing), or add it to the YAML file, but with a
placeholder string like "LOCALNUMBER" instead of an actual DB rev number.
This would allow people to put together their own database update
combinations for local developments, without getting their DB version
number out of whack.

The script that reads the YAML file and applies the update can be called
just in the event that DB number != Code number.  This would require that
the sysadmin manually add the atomic update the first time, but if they're
applying patches that require DB updates, they should be savvy enough to
complete that small additional step.

I do like the idea of hashes... but looking at it, we'd essentially be
mimicking the data structure we already have with Git commits.  Plus,
readability goes down.

Cheers,


-Ian

On Thu, Nov 24, 2011 at 5:37 AM, MJ Ray <mjr at phonecoop.coop> wrote:

> Robin Sheat <robin at catalyst.net.nz>
> > Perhaps a quick hash/CRC of the filenames of the patches that have been
> > applied? Should be quick to generated and test, and will tell us
> > immediately if we need to run again.
>
> That was another idea, but I thought a sufficient hash would be a very
> long version number from the start and also would not necessarily
> increase as updates are applied, or tell us simply which updates have
> been applied when people ask for help, so I went with multiplying
> primes.
>
> But both have their merits.  Hash, CRC or primes are fine by me.
>
> Regards,
> --
> MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
> Webmaster, Debian Developer, Past Koha RM, statistician, former lecturer.
> In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
> Available for hire for various work through http://www.software.coop/
> _______________________________________________
> Koha-devel mailing list
> Koha-devel at lists.koha-community.org
> http://lists.koha-community.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/koha-devel
> website : http://www.koha-community.org/
> git : http://git.koha-community.org/
> bugs : http://bugs.koha-community.org/
>



-- 
Ian Walls
Lead Development Specialist
ByWater Solutions
Phone # (888) 900-8944
http://bywatersolutions.com
ian.walls at bywatersolutions.com
Twitter: @sekjal
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: </pipermail/koha-devel/attachments/20111124/c1a56c2d/attachment.htm>