Getting Started with a Database

[David Burgun]

Hi Trevor,

Thanks for taking the time out to reply.

> A couple of things to address here.
>
> Creating the database
> The recipes.rev file assumes that you have already created the  
> recipes table in your MySQL database.  That is what the recipes.sql  
> file is for.  I did a search on google on the phrase "import sql  
> into mysql" and there were some useful results.  Some people  
> mentioned some MySQL database editors you could download.  Those  
> will have the ability to import a sql file through a menu option.   
> In CocoaMySQL it is File->Import->CocoaMySQL dump.

Ok, that's great, but I don't have any database to import, I want to  
create a new one from scratch. Is there anyway to do this using  
libDatabase (with either Version 2 or 1) ?

> libDatabase 2.0
> The recipes.rev stack will not work with libDatabase 2.x as there  
> were some changes to the API which made the two incompatible.   
> libDatabase 2.x is marked as beta mainly because I haven't had time  
> to put together example stacks, etc.  If you use the recipes.rev  
> stack with libDatabase 1.x and understand the concepts then  
> switching to libDatabase 2.x in your project should be very easy.

Ok, I understand now, thanks. One question, will libDatabase 1.x work  
with the version "MySQL" that I have already installed?


>> I have now looked that three database solutions and none of them  
>> seem to work and there seems to be very little "getting-started"  
>> information supplied with them.
>
> libDatabase does work, it just doesn't have any good introduction  
> to databases documentation/examples with it.  I believe the Getting  
> Started guide that comes with libDatabase 2.x contains enough  
> information for someone who has a solid understanding of both  
> Revolution and SQL databases.  If you are new to databases then you  
> may have difficulties because there isn't an "Introduction to SQL  
> Databases and Revolution using libDatabase" article.  I would love  
> to write one someday but I don't know when that will happen.
>
>>> Also, I highly recommend using version 2 of the libDatabase  
>>> library (available from the same page as version 1).  Version 2  
>>> does not have an example stack but there is a getting started doc  
>>> which describes the differences between version 1 and 2 along  
>>> with code explaining the main functionality.
>>
>> All I want is a simple database in order to build a prototype  
>> application to take to a prospective client and try to convince  
>> them to buy into the project.
>>
>> I need to store and retrieve via the following fields:
>>
>> Name | Type | Size | ImageFilePathName
>>
>> I have a CD with around 200,000 objects on it that I want to enter  
>> into the database.
>>
>> I don't want to lay out a lot of money at this stage nor do I want  
>> to have a massive learning curve to get it working. If I get the  
>> go ahead on the project then the database will be extended, a run  
>> time license purchased and I will of course be prepared to invest  
>> a lot of time learning about it. But right now, time is of the  
>> essence and I just want to get something up and running ASAP!
>
> I don't know that you can get around a learning curve given the  
> current state of things, even to just have the 4 fields that you  
> desire.  Given that time is of the essence and this seems to be a  
> prototype I would bypass SQL altogether.  Just use a card database  
> to store the information (do you need all 200,000 records for the  
> prototype?) and show proof of concept.  If you get the go ahead  
> then you can learn about SQL databases and implement one in your  
> project.  SQL is an incredibly powerful way to manage your data so  
> it is definitely worth learning about IMO.

I tried that already! They like what they see as implemented as a  
Card Database. An SQL database is the main feature of the app and  
something that I said (maybe by mistake) would be no problem under  
RunRev. The rest of the app I coded really quickly and have it  
working just fine, now all they want is to see it working with an SQL  
database. They will use the SQL database with other applications, not  
just the one I am working on.

All my Stack needs to do is:

1.  Create the Database.
I have a list of image files in a folder, the name field is the name  
of the file, the Type and Size fields are determined by looking up  
the name in a text file and the path is just the local path to the  
image file. This operation can (and will be slow) but this is  
acceptable since it will only be performed once.

2.  Retrieve from the Database.
The user enters a name, the record with this name is returned.

Is this really a massive learning curve? I have until Monday to get  
this and some other purely RunRev stuff working, surely that's enough  
time to do this?

Thanks again
All the Best
Dave