libdbi - Database Independent Abstraction Layer for C
Copyright (C) 2001-2003, David Parker and Mark Tobenkin.
http://libdbi.sourceforge.net


INTRODUCTION:
-------------

libdbi implements a database-independent abstraction layer in C, similar to the
DBI/DBD layer in Perl. Writing one generic set of code, programmers can
leverage the power of multiple databases and multiple simultaneous database
connections by using this framework.

The plugin architecture allows for new database drivers to be easily added by a
third party with flexbile licensing. See the libdbi-drivers project
(http://libdbi-drivers.sourceforge.net) for the drivers officially
supported by libdbi.


WARNING:
--------

The documentation included with this release is outdated. If you find a
discrepancy between documentation and implementation and would rather not read
source code to clarify the inconsistency, please e-mail the libdbi-users
mailing list (see below). Since this is a long overdue bugfix release and
since the API will undergo significant changes soon with the addition of
prepared statements, the developers justified their laziness in documentation
in the interest of a timely release ;)


INSTALLATION:
-------------

Perform the regular ./configure, make, make install. See INSTALL for the
generic details of each step. See ./configure --help for more libdbi
configuration options.

If you are building the Win32 port, see README.win32.
If you are building the OSX port, see README.osx.


FEATURES:
---------

 * Database-level abstraction:
   Your programs don't need to deal with the arbitrary interfaces and oddities
   of each database library. libdbi handles all the details for you, you just
   tell it what you want the database to do.
   
 * Modularity:
   Since database code written with libdbi is not tied to one specific database
   server, you can effortlessly switch databases or give your users the option
   to specify their own database settings.
   
 * Clean interface:
   With ample documentation describing libdbi and its well thought out
   object-oriented design, programming with libdbi should be less painful than
   programming with native database libraries. And you only need to learn it
   once instead of learning each database library's syntax.
   
 * Accommodates coder apathy:
   libdbi is written to do The Right Thing(tm), not just some quick hack that
   does the job in a half-assed fashion. This saves tons of your $100/hour time
   from debugging, so that you can mess around having fun during the hours that
   clients are paying you to debug.  It also strives to reduce the worldwide
   crisis of carpal tunnel syndrome, so it uses constructs such as this one to
   pack multiple function calls into one line, saving you the bother of typing
   more than you have to: 
   dbi_result_get_fields(result, "id.%i firstname.%s lastname.%s fractional_value.%f", &id, &firstname, &lastname, &floatval);
   
 * Plugin interface:
   The dynamic linking used by libdbi allows for driver authors to license
   their drivers however they please - they are not restricted to the GPL or
   LGPL. Drivers are easy to write, and require no special installation.
   
 * Error handling:
   Instead of checking every single database call for errors, libdbi gives
   programmers the option of registering an error handler callback, similar to
   a signal handler. Because we know you'll "forget" to check for errors
   otherwise :)
   
 * Convenience:
   Spend your time writing clever code, not reinventing the wheel with your own
   single-use, #define-abusing, less featureful database interface.


SUPPORTED PLATFORMS:
--------------------

libdbi has been written with cross-platform availability in mind. To date, it
has been successfully tested with:

Linux: Debian, RedHat, Slackware, Gentoo
Windows: 98, NT4, 2000, XP
FreeBSD: 4.3 through 4.7
SunOS: 2.8
Solaris: 7
AIX: 4.2, 4.3 and 5.1
OSX: 10.2

If you are using libdbi on a platform not listed here, please notify the
mailing list! (see below)


MODIFICATIONS AND REDISTRIBUTION (LGPL):
----------------------------------------

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free
Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any
later version.

This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more
details.

See the file COPYING or http://www.gnu.org for more details.


DOCUMENTATION:
--------------

See the Libdbi Programmer's Guide in the doc/ directory, provided in PDF and
HTML formats. This API reference also includes example source code and a
quickstart guide to using libdbi. 

(There is also the beginnings of a Libdbi Driver Author's Guide as well.)


MAILING LISTS:
--------------

http://libdbi.sourceforge.net/maillists.php

 * libdbi-users: libdbi-users@lists.sourceforge.net
   Go here if you have any general questions, ideas, or problems with using
   libdbi in your program.
 
 * libdbi-devel: libdbi-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
   Discussion about development of the core library and DBD interface.

 * libdbi-cvs: libdbi-cvs@lists.sourceforge.net
   Automated CVS diffs and log entries are sent to this address. Subscribe
   here if you want to track libdbi's progress at the source-code level.


CONTACT INFO:
-------------

http://libdbi.sourceforge.net
David A. Parker <david@neongoat.com>
Mark M. Tobenkin <mark@brentwoodradio.com>

$Id: README,v 1.10 2003/06/21 21:36:19 dap24 Exp $