Re: Parse PHP or Perl and Reconstruct MySQL Schema

Did you write this code yourself? If you did, it might be quicker to simply rewrite the application than attempting to figure out what the tables looked like. Even if you didn't write the code, you might be better off doing the application from scratch anyway.

I've been in similar situations, and sometimes I realize I simply had to bite the bullet and start over than to go through the code to reconstruct the SQL tables. It can take a lot less time to simply rewrite than to figure out what the tables looked like, testing your assumptions, and rebuilding everything again.

On the plus side, I usually happen to like the rewritten code much better. I have a better understanding of the application, and how the code interacts with itself. Plus, features and modifications that were squeezed into the code are now part of the base code.

One of the lessons learned is that your code should generate all the needed SQL tables, views, etc, and fill it with the needed preliminary data. It may seem like a waste of time spending a lot of effort on code that should only be run once, but this type of stuff happens a lot more often than you think.

Comment on Re: Parse PHP or Perl and Reconstruct MySQL Schema

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Re^2: Parse PHP or Perl and Reconstruct MySQL Schema by jhourcle (Prior) on Jun 06, 2006 at 15:22 UTC
I'm with you on keeping code to re-generate the databases. I keep a few files (create_tables.sql, create_indexes.sql, create_procedures.sql, create_triggers.sql, etc.) for each schema (oracle), and keep a directory near the control files, so it gets backed up regularly. Whenever I make an adjustment to the database, it gets reflected in the files -- and I append, not modify the existing. (if I drop or add a new column, it's an alter table, so I don't risk creating typos or other mistakes in the earlier stuff that I'll have to manually debug in a disaster recovery situation ... well, with a minor exception for a complete drop table, I'll comment out previous sections.)	[reply]

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Re^2: Parse PHP or Perl and Reconstruct MySQL Schema
by jhourcle (Prior) on Jun 06, 2006 at 15:22 UTC

I'm with you on keeping code to re-generate the databases.

I keep a few files (create_tables.sql, create_indexes.sql, create_procedures.sql, create_triggers.sql, etc.) for each schema (oracle), and keep a directory near the control files, so it gets backed up regularly.

Whenever I make an adjustment to the database, it gets reflected in the files -- and I append, not modify the existing. (if I drop or add a new column, it's an alter table, so I don't risk creating typos or other mistakes in the earlier stuff that I'll have to manually debug in a disaster recovery situation ... well, with a minor exception for a complete drop table, I'll comment out previous sections.)

[reply]