ADUG Symposium 2008

Object Database

A Backup Presentation

The ADUG Autumn Symposium generally offers a great opportunity for Delphi developers to get together and listen to experienced local and international speakers talk about their Delphi knowledge. Autumn 2008 was no different with programs planned for both Melbourne and Canberra.

Unfortunately Malcolm Groves had a family emergency and was not able to attend. In Melbourne Roger Connell stepped in at late notice to challenge the audience to consider using an Object Db. While the presentation was under prepared, an energetic discussion ensued which raised the concept in the minds of some and hopefully encouraged a couple of people to dip their toes in the water.

Object Database

Delphi as a product provides easy integration with various relational databases for storing your data but there are other alternatives. In the early years when the now infamous BDE had to be distributed with all such database applications Innova Solutions chose not to use a standard database for one application which required a simple installation. Instead the application database was persisted as objects in a single file. This led to development of an "Object" database implementation. In this Object database each object is persisted as a stream or Blob in the file. The database engine takes care of allocating the space and maintaining indexing, etc. but the individual object code is responsible for its stream representation and its own recovery of data from the stream. All objects must inherit from the base object which imposes some restrictions on the code and provides functions to assist in the stream persistence. Innova Solutions now offers a set of DCUs to Delphi developers which implement the Db logic within the application. A Server executable is also available which provides the server end of those client applications compiled with the remote option. Client/Server is supported over TCP/IP and incorporates basic encryption.

Latest Documentation

The product is now believed to be a viable object database structure for Delphi developers for native windows developments. More detailed documentation is provided on line here. Latest Information

Download

A Zip file including a simple db Demo sampler and Powerpoint of an earlier ADUG presentation and usage notes

To Compile the demo code or to create your own Object Db you will need the latest Database DCUs. The latest DCUS for Delphi 6 & 7, BDS 2006,Delphi 2007, 2009, 2010, XE, XE2, XE3, XE4, XE5, XE6, XE7, XE8, Seattle, Berlin, Tokyo, Rio and Sydney are available here. They contain ongoing feature additions and bug fixes

If you do decide to use the DCUs drop me a line and I will let you know when updates occur. Email me direct if you need other versions of Delphi DCUs.

Other Innova Solutions Presentations at ADUG

ADUG Presentations

The company accepts no liability for any alleged or actual damage arising from the use of any of these products or this information.