Filesystem Database

[Yottameter]

I'd like to use a database, but my IT department won't install mysql. I
know perl has a db interface that is stored on the filesystem. Is FSDB
the equivalent for Ruby? Is that what people recommend using for db's
stored on a filesystem?

Thanks!

 

[John Joyce]

http://www.sqlite.org/ might do what you want.

~Wayne

s///g
Wayne E. Seguin
Sr. Systems Architect & Systems Administrator

What a crappy IT department!
They won't let you use what you need?
You're a Sr.Systesms Architect & Sys Admin!

They won't install it on the server? or they just don't want to
install and support something?

What to use depends on what you want to do. (and in this case, what
you *can* do...)

 

[Yottameter]

The problem is a rogue IT person did give me sudo, but then our machines
are replaced, and all the work goes away. They don't want to install and
support anything. If it's not in my filesystem, it essentially doesn't
exist over tim because the machines are replaced.

My linux system at home is more decked out than my work.

 

[Reid Thompson]

The problem is a rogue IT person did give me sudo, but then our machines
are replaced, and all the work goes away. They don't want to install and
support anything. If it's not in my filesystem, it essentially doesn't
exist over tim because the machines are replaced.

My linux system at home is more decked out than my work.

If the DB is for just you or a small number of people, use sqlite, if
it's for a something larger, install PostgreSQL from source into your
home directory.

 

[John Joyce]

Careful John, I was merely replying to the OP. I cannot speak for
his IT department and yes that is my title.

~Wayne

Oops! My client didn't properly nest the quote levels! Sorry for the
noise.

 

[M. Edward (Ed) Borasky]

I'd like to use a database, but my IT department won't install mysql. I
know perl has a db interface that is stored on the filesystem. Is FSDB
the equivalent for Ruby? Is that what people recommend using for db's
stored on a filesystem?

Thanks!

I've seen a number of responses here, some helpful and some rather
snotty. But nobody has asked you the obvious questions. So I will:

1. Are you talking about a workstation or server?
2. If a workstation, is it Windows?
3. Is the IT reluctance to install MySQL part of an overall corporate
policy designed to protect you and your colleagues from some things that
are really nasty, like trojans, social engineering, releasing private
personal data, intellectual property law, etc.?

I work in a corporate environment, so I'm going to adopt the following
assumptions:

1. Workstation.
2. Windows.
3. Yes, it's a protective corporate policy.

In that case, you really should talk to your supervisor about what you
are trying to accomplish and whether there is a better way than either
MySQL or a "filesystem database" accessed via Ruby.

That said, I believe SQLite is a good way to do things. KirbyBase is
also popular, but I have no experience with it. For "smallish" problems,
I rather like Microsoft Access. It has a very user-friendly design
interface and it can (via ODBC) talk to just about any RDBMS. The only
problems I've ever had with it are:

1. It gets very nasty when the ".mdb" file hits the 2 GB size limit.
2. It doesn't really play well with file names containing more than one ".".

 

[Joel VanderWerf]

I'd like to use a database, but my IT department won't install mysql. I
know perl has a db interface that is stored on the filesystem. Is FSDB
the equivalent for Ruby? Is that what people recommend using for db's
stored on a filesystem?

Thanks!

Unfortunately, FSDB doesn't have a standard db interface. It's more of a
persistence mechanism than a full database with queries and so on. It
can be useful, but it's not a replacement for mysql.

Have you looked at sqlite?

There is also kirbybase, though I don't know what it's interface looks like.

Can you build mysql in your home dir?