Talk:Database Connector
From OpenLaszlo
There is a lot of prior art for this, much of it proven and in heavy real-world use.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpguide/html/cpconxmldataset.asp
Microsoft's approach handles error reporting, notes modifications, etc. Interoperability with .NET may be desirable. In any event, their approach is instructive.
http://bdn.borland.com/article/0,1410,10405,00.html
Borland tends to do things elegantly and intuitively. Their MIDAS distributed dataset technolgy has been in use since pre-2000 and is very well done. They focus on a semi-connected model, where deltas can be stored locally and sync'ed whenever possible. Again, not a requirement but very useful for inspiration.
http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/11143/
Academic types look at this whole thing and see XML Schema as a defintie tool that can be put to use -- even separating concerns in terms of data and data type mappings.
I recommend that each of the above be reviewed and considered for their possible use in our database connector spec.
Dynamic tension
How to allow SQL but not need SQL.
How to talk to tables but abstract away the physical storage mechanism of a database.
What does Rife/Laszlo and Bla Bla List do to query the database?
Integrate these things into this page:
http://wiki.openlaszlo.org/Rails_Scaffolding
http://www.openlaszlo.org/pipermail/laszlo-dev/2005-November/001639.html
ActiveRecord and REST
We should reference the ActiveRecord pattern here (http://www.martinfowler.com/eaaCatalog/activeRecord.html) and talk about REST API's.
Querying
For a querying mechanims, what about XPath? Could we extend and embrace the current XPath in OpenLaszlo?
Maybe HQL, or OQL?
Oh, hell. Let's just use SQL and use views to abstract tables.
