Hi all,

I have developped a Perl object database. Its main features are: I came to the point where I have begun to use it at work, and wondering whether I will release it as free software. It comes with a bit of documentation, but no automated installation procedure. Note that you will have to install modules from CPAN ( especially mod_perl and Psh ) yourselves.
For those interested to test it, you can get a fatted-out version at :

http://www.geocities.com/perlswapp/swapp-demo.tgz

Any feedback appreciated.

philou

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Perl object database
by gjb (Vicar) on Sep 16, 2003 at 11:38 UTC

    This could be quite interesting, but I've a few questions:

    • Are we talking object databases or object repositories?
    • How's the database queried? Does it support XPath-like queries? Something SQL-ish?
    • Why does the database depend on Apache+mod_perl? It seems to me they could (should?) be independent
    • Same question as above with respect to Psh, it seems it would be cleaner to expose just the database API.

    Just my 2 cents, -gjb-

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Re: Perl object database
by Jaap (Curate) on Sep 16, 2003 at 09:19 UTC
    So do you save perl objects in the database, or tree structured data?

    How is the database queried?

    Please tell us a little bit more.
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Perl object database
by philou (Beadle) on Sep 16, 2003 at 13:56 UTC
    First, I have to confess that I am not an expert in database system ( I can't tell whether we are talking about an object repository, because I do not know what it is ).
    Concerning my software, however I can explain a bit more:
    • I store serialized Perl objects in a DB_File database. These objects are stored in a filesystem like tree; that is objects may contain other objects, such as directories contain files.
    • There is an API to access objects; I have been working hard with Psh and Apache+mod_perl, but any other Perl program can access the object filesystem ( I have written other scripts to access the object filesystem, such as permanent daemons and cron jobs ). The thing is that as an administrator, I prefer the Psh command line to fix broken objects, but users have only access through the HTTP server.
    • A great part of the concepts I implement, are taken from the Unix world, I just transposed them to the Perl object world.
    • I have also written a bunch of other modules ( not in the tar you can get from geocities ):
      • Objects whose attributes are indexed ( either in an SQL database or in a BTREE DB_File ).
      • Objects that may contain a large number of other objects with fast access to subobjects.
      • Versionned objects ( under development ).
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Re: Perl object database
by princepawn (Parson) on Sep 16, 2003 at 15:59 UTC
    You might want to report this on The perl-object-oriented packagemailing list.

    Carter's compass: I know I'm on the right track when by deleting something, I'm adding functionality.

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Re: Perl object database
by simonm (Vicar) on Sep 17, 2003 at 17:01 UTC
    That link has stopped working -- perhaps you've hit a hosting bandwidth limit?
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