in reply to Re^2: (RFC) A CGI whiteboard editing script for emergencies
in thread (RFC) A CGI whiteboard editing script for emergencies UPDATED WITH CODE 9/26/06

My employer was using swiki for awhile, which does not use a database backend - instead it uses xml files. The idea was to keep it as simple as possible and remove dependencies and simplify administration. Worked well until the machine went down because of a runaway script and the XML files were mangled somehow. We have since switched to using a different wiki, with a database backend.

Issues like file/record locking and the ability to gracefully handle an unexpected shutdown are things that databases excel at. I would recommend taking advantage of this.

If the DBI modules are not installed on the server you can always install them to a local directory and define the PERL5LIB environment variable.

As for reducing the number of machines involved, why not run the database on the same machine as the web service?

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Re^4: (RFC) A CGI whiteboard editing script for emergencies
by OfficeLinebacker (Chaplain) on Aug 28, 2006 at 16:15 UTC
    imp, as for your last question, I am not an admin, merely a programmer. So the SQL(Postgres) server is one box, the web server is another box, and the server the files (both the script and the text/HTML) are on is another. That's just the way it's set up, and I have no control over that. If I want to use a DB, the only option (AFAIK) is Postgres, and I have to ask the admin of that machine to set up a table for me and stuff. Eventually, I will write a program that uses this functionality, because it is quite useful and Good To Know, but I don't think this is the one.

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