Defining data structures

Introduction

For building add-ons upon existing applications, it is possible to develop using an existing database. If a new project is started, it is recommended to define data structures in Java syntax and generate an arbitrary database out of these database neutral instructions.

Approach

See samples like e.g. de.jugs.cookbook.DoCookbook. Each of these DataObject extending classes represents a table in the database.

tableName is the name of the table
AbstractAttribute[] attributes is the list of the table columns, defining description, column names, type and length
Index[] indices are the index definition to optimize the access time

Class mkt.TableCreator is a sample for how to create tables dynamically when an empty database is found. It is extending de.must.dataobj.TableCreatorStd.
Class de.jugs.cookbook.DbScriptCreator is a sample for how to create a script to create a MySQL dialect.

However this is done, the principal is to define the database inside the application and then use it freely and expandable.

Attribute types (column types)

See Index and IndexItem for how to define indices.