README file for libgda ====================== GNU Data Access (GDA) is an attempt to provide uniform access to different kinds of data sources (databases, information servers, mail spools, etc). It is a complete architecture that provides all you need to access your data. It is defined by a set of plugin APIs as generic as possible (but very powerful at the same time) so that any kind of data source can be accessed through them. libgda is an interface to the GDA architecture, providing a nice wrapper around the GDA interfaces, for both the client and the server parts. It also provides a bunch of tools to help you both in the development and management of your data sources, all done through the GDA model's interfaces. libgda was part of the GNOME-DB project (http://www.gnome.org/projects/gnome-db), but has been separated from it to allow non-GNOME applications to be developed based on it. libgda is released under the terms of the GPL and LGPL licenses. The specific parts of the architecture are licensed under one of them: executables, such as the command-line tools and the database providers are licensed under the GPL license, which means that any work derived from it must also adhere to the terms of the GPL license. Libraries (libgda, libgda-sql, libgda-report) are, on the other hand, licensed under the LGPL license, which allows for commercial applications to be developed based on libgda. Dependencies ------------ To compile libgda, you must have the following packages installed: glib 2.0 or newer gnome-xml You can get all these packages from ftp.gnome.org. Subdirectories -------------- doc: the libgda api documentation libgda: the actual libgda library po: translation files for other languages than English providers: some GDA service providers tools: useful helper programs testing: tools for testing and test programs Checking your Installation -------------------------- libgda comes with a test program (gda-test, under the testing/ directory) which can be used to see if libgda and the providers work correctly. It is going to be a complete test suite for the libgda installation, and a diagnostic system that even tells you some hints on how to proceed if an error occurs. Use it if, after a successful installation, you're having problems making libgda work. Further information ------------------- libgda comes with a automatic installation tool. For a guide on how to install libgda, see the file named INSTALL. libgda comes with NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. You may redistribute copies of libgda under the terms of the GNU General Public License. For more information about these matters, see the file named COPYING. For errors you find in the code or the documentation, please contact gnome-db-list@gnome.org or the author of the file.
