Connection(s) established. Initiating execution.

Hi y'all.

So now the next phase is finished.
I now implemented and tested connections to all supported database platforms.
I only used multi-platform python-components.
These are:

• PostgreSQL(psycopg2, native)
• MySQL(MySQLdb, native)
  
• SQL Server(pyodbc using FreeTDS)
• DB2(pyodbc, needs libdb2.so)
• Oracle(cx_Oracle, native, needs oracle instant client)
  

Getting all the databases running on my network was a real chore, to be honest.
Especially DB2 and Oracle were quite cumbersome to connect to, and needed lots of proprietary stuff installed on the client. Also, they don't really support debian/ubuntu.
However, now that I know how everything works I will try to automate client installations, or at least document them well, so Unified BPM users won't have to go through all the hassle I had to.

Anyway, next now is to define a small XML schema for generalizing of database upgrade management.
My thought is that the same XML should be able to manage database upgrades for multiple platforms, through the functionality of the database abstraction layer.
I don't want some Unified BPM components to end up having half-a$$ed support for specific databases, like it is for the Drupal project, for example.
Also, this makes it possible to make really kewl database tests.

Done with first phase of SQL generation

So there.

Now I have, in python, created a class which does only the things I need to at begin with the first database part of Unified BPM, creating and querying simple database structures.
The class can currently create these kinds of SQL statements(and then some):

• SELECT - with where, expressions, conditions, CASE, function calls, joins, subselects.
• CREATE TABLE - with defaults, primary keys, foreign keys and autoincrement
  
• CREATE INDEX - Unique, Clustered, Non-Clustered

Supported databases for this functionality is:

• Full
  • MySQL
  • PostgreSQL
  • DB2
  • SQL Server
• Partial DDL
  • Oracle(due to identifier limitations and auto-increment hassle)

Now I will use this generator to make test for the DAL:s connection handling.
I now have working installations of all five databaseservers and will use them to set up integration tests for all flavours.

In practice, Partial DDL means that Unified BPM won't run on that platform but will be able to communicate with it. I simply won't commit to restricting myself to 30 bytes long identifiers. Somebody please think of the FK-names!