2003-05-11 Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
* Release 0.09.
* Updated a few documentation details in file lib/Rosetta/API_C.pod, in the
"CONTENT OF rosetta_schema_datatype.h" section.
* Updated section SYNOPSIS of Framework.pod to make a few small corrections
or improvements.
* Updated section BRIEF MODULE LIST of Framework.pod, mainly for the Schema
modules (stored procedures et al are getting fleshed out; users are demoted
since they aren't really part of the schema).
* Added new file lib/Rosetta/DataDictionary.pod, which describes a database
that is suitable for storing all of the Rosetta Schema details, including
constant code tables, user data types, user tables, user views, and user
code blocks such as stored procedures, functions, and triggers. This may
be expanded later to also describe not only users and privileges but also a
means for storing any kind of Command or Response object for such things as
logging database activity. This new file is a rewritten replacement for
the last 3 main sections of Framework.pod, which were removed: "ROSETTA
NATIVE DATA DICTIONARY STRUCTURE", "A BASIC TABLE STRUCTURE FOR STORING
ROSETTA SCHEMAS", "ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING THAT". However, since the new
file isn't finished yet, copies of the 3 old sections have been moved to
the bottom of the new file in their original form. They will be removed
when they are fully redundant.
2003-04-27 Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
* Release 0.08.
* Added new file lib/Rosetta/API_C.pod, which contains the start of my C
API documentation for Rosetta. It contains yet-incomplete contents for
these 3 C header files: rosetta.h, rosetta_types.h,
rosetta_schema_datatype.h. Also added the new filename to the SEE ALSO of
Framework.pod. No other changes were made in this release.
2003-04-15 Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
* Release 0.07.
* The experimental changes made in release 0.062 were rolled back, meaning
that the files lib/Rosetta.pm and t/Rosetta.t were restored to the presence
they had in 0.061. Since those were the only changes, all change comments
below are relative to the state of release 0.061.
* This release was mainly a documentation and licensing update. The
distribution now has these extra files: INSTALL, LICENSE, TODO. No files
were removed. Framework.pod had the most changes, ReadMe the second most.
* The section ABSTRACT in Framework.pod was largely rewritten to bring it
up to date with my evolved plans, and also to greatly improve the
communication of what Rosetta does and does not do. For one thing, a lot
more emphasis is placed on its useability with both embedded and
client-server databases. There were a huge number of content changes.
* The Rosetta database abstraction framework is now distributed under the
terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) rather than "under the same
terms as Perl itself" (meaning a choice of GPL or Artistic). The new
licensing should be a lot easier to understand. This applies to both code
and design documents; also, any code implemented from my design documents
will be considered a derivative work no matter who makes it, and be bound
by the same license. Note that while the GPL precludes linking to modules
for which the source code isn't freely available, my licensing terms have
an exception for the independent database drivers themselves. That said,
it is very likely that I will change to a dual-licensing arrangement some
time in the future, after Rosetta is actually able to do something useful,
where a GPL license is free, and getting an alternative license requires a
special arrangement with myself.
* A new file named LICENSE has been added to the distribution, which
contains the text of the GPL. All other distribution files, especially
Framework.pod, have been updated such that each AUTHOR documentation
section has been replaced with a COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE section (near the
top of each file); the AUTHOR section had talked about copyright and
licensing itself, and is now redundant. Correspondingly, all code modules
have had their version numbers increased by 0.001.
* The section SCHEDULE FOR DEVELOPMENT in lib/Rosetta/Framework.pod was
removed from there and put in the new file "TODO"; aside from a reformat to
move from POD to plain text, there were no changes. Upcoming plans for
this file is that it will be rewritten to include multiple parallel
development tracks, which more realistically portrays what will happen.
* A few terms were renamed globally in Framework.pod. Any references to
"connecting" or "disconnecting" a database were changed to say "opening"
and "closing" instead. Also, the module "Connection" was renamed to
"Database". This affected mainly the SYNOPSIS and the EXPANDED MODULE LIST.
Also, the DEPENDENCIES of all files were slightly updated.
* The STRUCTURE, BRIEF MODULE LIST, and EXPANDED MODULE LIST have been
expanded, and the diagram in STRUCTURE improved: 1. The list of Driver
modules has been rewritten to explicitely show several dozen databases, and
the expanded module descriptions for all drivers and driver utilities was
rewritten. 2. A new set of Validator modules has been added to be a common
test bed for all the drivers (akin to Sun's validation suite for JVMs). 3.
The Rosetta::Driver::Native driver is no longer intended for testing the
Rosetta core, but rather is to be useful in its own right; it will now be
in the Drivers distribution rather than the core distribution. 4. A new
set of modules named Rosetta::Proxy::* were added (along with a second
diagram in STRUCTURE), so that Rosetta could work as a client-server setup
ala ODBC. Comments on my plan to convert Rosetta into a C library
eventually (with a fully working pure-Perl version coming first) were added
to STRUCTURE.
* Removed one test from Rosetta-Schema-DataType.t which was generating a
warning; there was no point since it effectively tested just the Perl
runtime engine and not the module.
* The BUGS section was removed from SimilarModules.pod and put in ReadMe.
The INSTALLATION section was removed from ReadMe and put in a new file
named INSTALL. ReadMe was further updated to rename REQUIREMENTS to
DEPENDENCIES and to add a CREDITS section (currently empty). The PREFACE
was completely rewritten (and is now much shorter).
* A few more tiny whitespace formatting bits were fixed in several files,
and several parts were re-word-wrapped. Added "use warnings" to SYNOPSIS.
2003-03-29 Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
* Release 0.062.
* This release is mainly a test to see how CPAN indexes handle a
distribution named after a registered module where that module doesn't
actually exist. The files lib/Rosetta.pm and t/Rosetta.t were removed from
the distribution to facilitate the test. The rationale is that these files
never actually did anything except serve as placeholders for the framework
on CPAN indexes, but they may not be needed. There were no other changes.
2003-03-09 Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
* Release 0.061.
* This is a small bugfix release that mainly is for fixing documentation.
A lot of it was formatting issues that was easy to miss before; the other
bullet points below list the non-formatting issues. These files
had formatting fixes: Framework.pod, SimilarModules.pod, ChangeLog.
* Updated these sections in "ReadMe": PREFACE, INSTALLATION, TO DO.
* Updated BRIEF MODULE LIST in Framework.pod to add SimilarModules.pod.
* Updated SimilarModules.pod so that each module list shown for other
people's frameworks includes the framework release version and date for
which I was looking at them, so it is easier to validate my information.
* Updated Rosetta.pm (now at v0.061) replacing references to
"Rosetta::Framework.pod" with "lib/Rosetta/Framework.pod".
2003-03-08 Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
* Release 0.06.
* Created new documentation-only file lib/Rosetta/SimilarModules.pod, which
is where all of the comparisons between Rosetta and other database-related
modules and frameworks will go. There are so many modules to compare with
that this documentation needs its own file.
* Updated the SEE ALSO lines of all the modules. Now Framework.pod is the
place where all of the other Rosetta modules are listed. SimilarModules.pod
has the list of other people's modules. All other modules simply list
Framework.pod and SimilarModules.pod in their SEE ALSO. DataType is now at
v0.02 and Rosetta.pm is at v0.06 because of this change.
* Added new modules lib/Rosetta/Schema/Table.pm and
lib/Rosetta/Schema/View.pm (both are v0.01), which complement the already
completed DataType.pm. There are also two new test files, one for each new
module. Given the greater complexity of the new modules relative to
DataType, and the desire to expedite this release, the two new modules will
only be partly done in this release, and their test files won't do
anything. Table.pm and View.pm should be finished probably by release 0.08
or 0.09.
* References in Framework.pod to a planned module Rosetta::Schema::DataSet
have been removed, as that module's functionality is now part of
Rosetta::Schema::View. Also added references to Rosetta::Schema::User and
Rosetta::Schema::Privilege (or PrivilegeType).
* Removed the entire MODULE DETAILS section from Framework.pod, and divided
its contents into the new Table.pm and View.pm.
* Updated STRUCTURE section in Framework.pod to move the Locale group in
the diagram so it is beside Schema; this signifies that both of these 2
named groups are used by the 4 other groups in more or less the same way.
2003-03-04 Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
* Release 0.05.
* Created new file lib/Rosetta/Schema/DataType.pm which implements the
class Rosetta::Schema::DataType (v0.01); this is the first module to be
coded, and it is complete as of its first version. The already written POD
for this class that was in Rosetta::Framework under the section MODULE
DETAILS has been removed from that file and put in the new file instead,
with updates.
* Added new file t/Rosetta-Schema-DataType.t, to completely test the newly
coded module.
* Updated lib/Rosetta.pm (now at v0.05) and t/Rosetta.t to add the "use
warnings" pragma at the top of each file beside "use strict"; the
previously mentioned two new files also have the added pragma, which should
save users from having to put -w on the command line for these modules.
* Updated Rosetta::Framework further, in the STRUCTURE and BRIEF MODULE
LIST sections, to add references to a new set of core modules,
Rosetta::Locale::*. These are to function as constant data resources,
mainly holding user-readable text such as database error messages and so
forth, so that this text is separate from normal module code and easy to
edit. This is a set of files partly so that each file can have a different
localization; adding a new user language is as easy as adding another file.
The set of text strings being stored should be comprehensive enough that
any Driver module can use them, and therefore not need their own Locale
files for displaying error messages. All strings are mapped to short codes
(eg: 'R001372'); these codes are what the normal module code uses to
display a particular message.
2003-02-10 Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
* Release 0.04.
* The file Documentation.pod was renamed to Framework.pod; that file's
internal name as declared in the POD is Rosetta::Framework; the file was
also moved into lib/Rosetta/; any references to this file in other files
were updated accordingly.
* In Framework.pod, updated BRIEF MODULE LIST to replace
Rosetta::Driver::Null with Rosetta::Driver::Native. The plan is that this
will be a fully-functional RDBMS implementation, and 100% Perl code; it
will implement all database features that the Rosetta core can interface
to, even if some real databases can't. This includes transactions,
locking, foreign keys, stored procedures, multiple 'users', and more. That
said, it is intended mainly for testing the Rosetta core, and will be
developed simultaneously with the latter. While Rosetta::Driver::Native is
fully functional, it is completely RAM-based for simplicity (nothing is
stored on disk, except perhaps by means of explicit freeze/thaw or the
like), and probably won't scale to more than a few thousand records
(namely, it will hold just whatever can all fit in RAM at once). It also
won't be designed with multi-threaded environments in mind, due to its
intent for testing (usually done by one person at a time); if you plan to
use it for more, you will need to serialize access yourself. Also, the
EXPANDED MODULE LIST :: DRIVER MODULES now describes the new module.
* In Framework.pod, moved section SCHEDULE FOR DEVELOPMENT down below BRIEF
MODULE LIST (leaving STRUCTURE right after DESCRIPTION). Some list items
in the moved section were also moved to be handled earlier.
2003-02-09 Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
* Release 0.03.
* The most significant change in this release is that the file "Rosetta.pm"
has been split into itself and the new file "Documentation.pm". The latter
file now has all of the main Rosetta framework POD documentation. The
former now is very small and contains just module-specific documentation.
The new folders "lib" and "t" were also added to the distribution. As of
this release, Rosetta still consists entirely of documentation.
* Note that, as soon as module code starts being written, Rosetta will be
released as multiple distributions. This current distribution will contain
the framework core, mainly all of the Schema and Engine modules, and the
generic base class for Drivers, and continue under its existing name. A
new distribution named "Rosetta-Drivers" will contain most of the Driver
modules, and this is the only distribution that would have DBI and DBD::*
as prerequisites. Another distribution named "Rosetta-Emulators" will
contain the Emulator modules. Sample and utility applications will be in
yet another distribution, such as "Rosetta-Applications".
* Updated several parts of ReadMe file, particularly the Preface.
* Makefile.PL now hard-codes the distribution VERSION; this file now has
the authoritative VERSION for the distribution or framework itself.
* These were the main Documentation.pod sections with updates other than
from the file split (which removed PREFACE from both files):
- DEPENDENCIES - changed to "none" (from DBI) since core has no dependencies
- SCHEDULE FOR DEVELOPMENT - moved to later date stored Views and Pub Syn
- SYNTAX - removed section; content merged into STRUCTURE
- STRUCTURE - removed "Parser" from structure, made relationship graph complete
- BRIEF MODULE LIST - grouped modules by their distributions, added Driver::Null
- ROSETTA NATIVE DATA DICTIONARY STRUCTURE - separated Table, Select definitions
* Note that other POD sections are out of date and will need updating.
2003-01-27 Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
* Release 0.02.
* This is the second release. The release and root-level module are now
called "Rosetta", which it was renamed to from "DBIx::Portable". It still
consists entirely of documentation in POD format, and all of that is in the
file Rosetta.pm.
* The documentation was significantly updated, with up to half of it being
rewritten. This release has a completed SYNOPSIS (the previous release
left out some significant parts due to time constraints), and several new
sections on framework design. In particular, the structure of the
internally used "schema" was fleshed out.
* These were the main sections with updates:
- ABSTRACT - new section
- SYNOPSIS - expanded to a complete Perl script with config file
- DESCRIPTION - several more paragraphs added
- SCHEDULE FOR DEVELOPMENT - rewritten from and replaces PROGRESS
- STRUCTURE - new section (not related to same-named old version section)
- BRIEF MODULE LIST - new section
- EXPANDED MODULE LIST - canibalized from the previous versions STRUCTURE
- ROSETTA NATIVE DATA DICTIONARY STRUCTURE - new section
- A BASIC TABLE STRUCTURE FOR STORING ROSETTA SCHEMAS - new section
- MODULE DETAILS
* These other sections had little or no updates:
- NAME
- PREFACE
- DEPENDENCIES
- SYNTAX
- MODULE DETAILS
- AUTHOR
- SEE ALSO
* Generally speaking, this release should be a lot better than the previous
one, although there are still large gaps or sections needing improving.
Subsequent releases will probably start including a code implementation,
with further documentation updates happening at the same time.
2003-01-21 Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
The next version of the Module List will list the following module:
modid: Rosetta
DSLIP: cdpOp
description: Framework for RDBMS-generic apps and schemas
userid: DUNCAND (Darren Duncan)
chapterid: 7 (Database_Interfaces)
enteredby: ANDK (Andreas J. Knig)
enteredon: Tue Jan 21 08:20:47 2003 GMT
The resulting entry will be:
Rosetta cdpOp Framework for RDBMS-generic apps and schemas DUNCAND
2003-01-05 thru 2003-01-19 Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
* On January 5th, a module registration request was sent to
modules@perl.org for "DBIx::Portable", which was to be the namespace root
for this distribution in release 0.01. But it was not registered. During
the following few days, both Tim Bunce and Brian D Foy replied (but no one
else), and alternate names were suggested instead, which I discussed
further with them. The general consensus was, being that I was making a
framework, my modules should have a unique root level namespace of their
own, which could be "brandable"; they should not be under the DBIx
namespace, or have the characters "DBI" in their root name. I came up with
some new ideas, and in doing so had rethought on part of the focus or
uniqueness of my framework. It was thought that using "Portable" or
"Abstract" were too generic sounding. My first new favorite, "Cipher", was
thought too easily confused with cryptography even though actually has a
wider meaning that was applicable. My other favourite suggestion of
"Rosetta" seemed to meet with Tim's approval.
* On January 9th, a module registration request was sent to
modules@perl.org for "Rosetta".
* On January 19th, a follow up to that request was sent which had a much
better description of what the framework would do, taken from its brand
new "ABSTRACT" POD, part of 0.02 in development.
2003-01-05 Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
* Release 0.01.
* This is the initial release. It contains only documentation, and all of
that is in the file Portable.pm. This documentation isn't complete, but it
should be enough for a first version, and I am keeping strictly to a Jan 5
release date regardless of completeness.
2002-12-14 Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
* Began creating this new Perl distribution package for CPAN, using an
initial title of DBIx-Portable-0.01, including ReadMe and ChangeLog files.
2002-11-12 Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
* Began development on these modules as their own entity that is separate
from the application, which will be distributed open-source on CPAN, using
initial titles of DBIx::Portable and DBIx::Portable::*. The modules are to
comprise an RDBMS-generic DB framework for any application to use. This
development effort was discussed with the victoria.pm Perl Mongers group.
* Modules based on a template created by h2xs 1.18.
2002-07-28
* Posted the first significant update to the second prototype, which added
an index or cache for data that was expensive to calculate for each page
request, and involved rewriting about a fourth of the perl code.
2002-06-07
* Posted to my website the second public prototype demo of the new
self-proprietary database driven application, whose database schema, user
interface, feature set, and Perl application code was almost completely
rewritten. The new version explicitly had separate modules for database
communication and the web interface logic, with MySQL-specific code and
database generic or data dictionary code in separate files, and separate
files for parts of the web interface. The program used the same generic
CPAN modules as in the first prototype, DBI/MySQL and CGI::Portable.
2001-11-24
* Posted the last update to the first prototype.
2001-07-12
* Posted to my website the first public prototype demo of a new
self-proprietary database driven application, which is like a cross between
a multimedia metadata catalogue and a repository for historical or
genealogical data. This application contained the first prototypes of code
that ended up in these modules. All of this application's code, for
database communication and web interface logic, was situated in a single
module, with the rest of the program being more generic CPAN modules like
DBI (and DBD for MySQL) and CGI::Portable.
2000-05-17
* Requested MySQL database privileges on my web host so I have something to
start developing, testing and deploying database driven applications on.