Hi Chris, I don't know much about databases, so forgive me if my remarks do not make sense. =) On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 04:22:19PM -0400, Chris Peachment wrote: > I am using Sqlite in place of PostGresSql > for a variety of reasons not relevant here. > > Converting the version 0.14.3 database > schema is relatively straightforward but it > reveals a number of identifiers that might > be reserved words in some database products > and thus require back tick quoting or cause > syntax errors. > > Specifically: > > -- day as table name > -- date as field in day table > -- start as field in task table > -- work as field in task table > -- type as field in predecessor table > -- value as field in property table Any backwards-compatible changes we should just do right away. I still have a patch in the works to remove support for libgda < 3 and add proper quoting of data. Are you saying this cannot always be solved by quoting? Tell me more. > In addition, the task priority field is > supplied in the XML .planner file but is not > in the database schema. Can this be added in a backwards-compatible way? If so, can you provide a patch? > As a more general comment, I note that the > names chosen for both tables and fields are > often generic and at risk of name space > collision when the Planner tables are > integrated with other tables. Their generic > nature might also be misleading in a bigger > schema where other parts of the database > has similar content. Isn't the planner database the namespace? Why would any non-planner data end up in the planner database? > Since the database schema has significant > documentation value, the use of identifiers > with abbreviations that appear cryptic to > non-English speaking coders might also be > discouraged. > > For these reasons, I suggest that the table > and field names be reviewed before too much > code is written and they are 'cast in stone'. People have already been using Planner with a database. Isn't it cast in stone already? I don't think it's easier to change it now than it is to do it later, is it? We've talked about changing the .planner file format on this list in http://mail.gnome.org/archives/planner-dev-list/2008-March/msg00004.html and I also talked about it at the end of http://mail.gnome.org/archives/planner-dev-list/2008-February/msg00014.html. The same thing holds for the database format: we want to keep the number of times we change it to a minimum. We can do this by documenting somewhere what should be changed in the database format and only implement it when the format is changed for the other things. > How can I help in this matter? You undoubtedly know more about databases than I do. I would love to see what you think needs to be changed and why. It would be even better if other people who know databases could review the proposal. Thanks, Maurice. -- Maurice van der Pot Gentoo Linux Developer griffon26 gentoo org http://www.gentoo.org Gnome Planner Developer griffon26 kfk4ever com http://live.gnome.org/Planner
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