Forum OpenACS Development: sql patches & etc.

1: sql patches & etc.

Posted by Jon Griffin on 10/25/01 05:37 AM

Now that there is an alpha tarball and a fairly stable release, I think it is time to start tracking our sql changes.

I know that many people are using OpenACS in semi-production quality settings and even though we know things may break it would be nice to just run an upgrade script if possible. It is also a good habit to get into!

2: Response to sql patches & etc. (response to 1)

Posted by Don Baccus on 10/25/01 08:47 PM

OK ... this is a bit premature in comparision to my thinking but on the other hand, you're right, people are starting to use the toolkit in a serious way. I was thinking we'd wait until beta or maybe our first final release.

One thing we need to do first is to think about a coherent version numbering scheme (before generating a bunch of upgrade scripts with embedded numbers). Thus far I've just left version numbers alone, as inherited from aD. Is this what we should be doing? Do we want to try to move package numbers to a "4.2" base as we get close to release? I haven't thought much about this, yet, other than to recognize that at some point we need to sit down and formalize (to some small extent, at least) our version numbering process. It doesn't help that the SDM currently only supports "beta" sub-numbering (note that the official SDM name for my alpha tarball is "beta 2").

Maybe I should spend part of a day jackhammering the SDM's numbering scheme into something more useful to us.

3: Response to sql patches & etc. (response to 1)

Posted by Jon Griffin on 10/29/01 02:50 AM

ACS was originally at 4.2. If you want to avoid confusion I would make it 4.3. The code quality is certainly much better than 4.2 ever was.

Even though it is labeled alpha, I am using OpenACS on many sites (albeit none with a huge user base) because I feel that it really is more stable than 4.2.

Can we just come to an agreement such as: starting with the beta release, all the core of OpenACS will not break the data model without an associated upgrade script.

As for packages that aren't part of the core, make the same rule. Beta and beyond won't break the data model. Of course, you can add the upgrade scripts at any time before that and that would be even better.

4: Response to sql patches & etc. (response to 1)

Posted by Don Baccus on 10/29/01 03:47 AM

I'll check around but yes, I think beta is the best cut-off point for this. I think you're right about the stability of OpenACS 4.x alpha vs. ACS 4.2, but then again my opinions about the quality of ACS 4.x releases is well known :)

I've just been fixing some annoying bugs in general comments which appear to have been there forever, i.e. ever notice how the "Text" "HTML" choice widget doesn't work?