zim-wiki team mailing list archive

["Mark Hughes (Zim mailing list)" <mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 04/03/2013 12:51, Jaap Karssenberg wrote:
> Sounds like you are thinking in the direction where the data in the 
> objects is populated from an existing database. Not directly my 
> intention but should be possible with a custom backend for the page 
> data. The code that stores the wiki pages in text files is a very thin 
> mapping class. Can easily be replaced with something that uses e.g. a 
> database. But would help to have a more specific use case in mind. I 
> don't think zim is necessarily a good generic databse viewer. My use 
> case is more the other way around, to do a little bit structured data 
> without the need of a "real" database. Regards, Jaap 

I don't have a use case in mind - just triggered by what you described. 
My thought is that by considering this you could make something much 
more powerful possible, while if it isn't thought about it won't be easy 
to add later. The difference will be ensuring your object model allows 
for database transaction cases, which it may if you do your SQL with 
this in mind.

My thought is not just connecting to existing databases, though that 
could be very useful and widen Zim's appeal, particularly into corporate 
scenarios which could be good for promoting Zim.

Let's say you build your personal data example. Often these things start 
simple but then it becomes tempting to add new objects, and then to want 
to access them from different devices, run complex queries etc. Soon 
even a little "homer" can want much more database functionality. If the 
data is stored in a "proper" database, it is relatively simple to extend 
the plugin functionality and grow its capability along with user demands.

That's my thought process.

Mark