Re: [boost] SOCI 3.0.0 - The Database Access Library

From: Dr. Franz Fehringer (fehrin_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-07-11 02:38:20

Hello,

I have two questions:

1) Does SOCI support IBM DB2 in general?
2) same but for z/OS?

Thanks for the great work

Franz

Maciej Sobczak schrieb:
> Hi,
>
> After more than one year and a half from the last release I'm pleased 
> to announce the availability of the next major SOCI release (3.0.0).
>
> The SOCI library is a C++ database access library that during the last 
> years was recognized for its innovative interface, ease of use and 
> high quality. The main project website is:
>
> http://soci.sourceforge.net/
>
> The 3.0.0 release brings many improvements and new features. Some of 
> them were suggested here during previous discussions on database 
> interfaces. Some of them will be explained in more detail below.
>
> The most important of the new library features include:
>
> * Naming and coding convention compliant with Boost.
>
> * Integration with Boost types: optional, tuple, fusion and 
> gregorian::date.
>
> Please see <http://soci.sourceforge.net/doc/boost.html> for details.
>
> * Dynamic backend loading.
>
> The advantages and potential uses of this feature have been discussed 
> here previously.
> An example code establishing the new connection to the database might 
> look like:
>
> soci::session sql("postgresql://dbname=my_database");
>
> As a result, the SOCI library will try to locate the dynamically 
> loadable plugin (called backend) for PostgreSQL and handle all further 
> database-related activity.
>
> This feature exists not instead, but in addition to the 
> statically-bound interface that was available in previous releases.
>
> * Multithreaded connection pool.
>
> * Improved integration and conversion system for user-defined datatypes.
>
> Actually, integration with Boost types has been implemented with the 
> help of this conversion system. It is non-intrusive and based on 
> traits, which means that neither SOCI nor user-defined types need to 
> be modified to integrate them. This system is also composable, which 
> means that user-defined datatypes can wrap one another without special 
> arrangements. For example, boost::tuple can contain 
> boost::optional<Employee> even though all three conversion traits can 
> be defined separately.
>
> * Extended the set of basic datatypes with long long.
>
> * Additional simplified interface (of the extern "C" type) for 
> integration with other programming languages.
>
> It is expected that bindings for other languages will be created as 
> external projects with the potential advantage of reducing the total 
> number of libraries used in multi-language projects and increasing 
> conceptual coherency of database-related operations.
> Boost.Python and similar solutions can be helpful here.
>
>
> The 3.0.0 release includes the following backends:
>
> * Oracle
> * PostgreSQL
> * MySQL
>
> They were tested on a variety of platforms, please see the 
> documentation pages devoted to each backend for details.
>
> Other backends (ODBC, SQLite, Firebird) exist in the CVS repository 
> and are provided "as is" for those who are willing to experiment with 
> them and accept the cost of using less-tested and unsupported code.
> It is very likely that future releases of the library will officially 
> include some of these additional backends. It is also possible that 
> other database servers will be targeted with dedicated backends.
>
> An extensive HTML documentation is available both on the project 
> website and as part of the distribution. In particular, the 
> doc/structure.html page explains the structure of the library and 
> provides instructions how to build it.
>
>
> ------
>
> This release is also a good motivation for reviving the discussion on 
> the future Boost database library.
> As you have seen during the last couple of years, SOCI is one of the 
> very few (should I say "the only one"?) projects that actually move 
> forward and that are now culturally consistent with Boost.
> The extensive out-of-the-box integration with the Boost datatypes, 
> Boost license and compliant naming conventions, already make SOCI the 
> natural choice in those projects that use Boost libraries.
> As a natural consequence of this, the following question has to be asked:
>
> What is the future of database interfacing from the Boost community 
> point of view?
>
> Proposing SOCI as a candidate library for Boost might be a possible 
> answer to this question, but it is not obvious in a wider perspective. 
> Some of the SOCI users do not use Boost for various reasons and this 
> justifies retaining SOCI as a separate entity (note: even though SOCI 
> offers extensive integration with Boost, it does not mandate it and 
> SOCI can be compiled without any reference to Boost). Most likely 
> solution is to keep SOCI orbiting around Boost in terms of coding 
> conventions and seamless interfacing, as it does today, so that 
> benefits for all interested parties can be retained.
>
> Your comments and suggestions considering the above are very welcome.
>
>
> Final note: SOCI does not use bjam. If this is considered as missing 
> from the Boost point of view, contributions from experienced bjam 
> users would be needed.
>
> Cheers,
>