Collection/Group Databases

• Evolution
  • Previous versions of DLXS software
    • used colldb, a tab-delimited file for each class
    • each class's colldb duplicated many columns
  • Current version uses a relational database called dlxs
    • Underlying data format vs. logical format
    • managed through a CGI program called the Collection Manager (collmgr)
• Collection Database Schema
  • One database for all classes rather than separate colldb files for each class
  • Collection table to hold fields common to all collections classes
  • Class tables to hold fields that are specific to each class
  • Backup tables, version table
• Groups Database
  • A group of collections (for collection coordinators to logically group collections for searching)
  • Used mainly by Image Class and Bib Class
• Other information required by the middleware that is kept in databases
  • Part of the dlxs database:
    • Pageview (for which we recommend against CSV because of functionality, performance, scalability)
    • Portfolios (BookBagDB table)
  • DBI is used for these, but they are not part of the dlxs database as such; temporary
    • Sessions, TextClass BookBag
• Middleware use of databases
  • Middleware and collmgr use Perl DBI and support DBD drivers for CSV, MySQL (Oracle to follow)
• For example: CioFactory object compares requested collections and groups, authorized collections (see AUTHZD_COLL) and groups
• See the DLXS documentation for more information on the databases
• Database maintenance
  • dbconv: one time program to convert current DLXS users' colldb's to a database (either CSV or MySQL)
  • dbmove: program to convert from CSV to MySQL versions of the same, new database structure (We at DLPS will also use this to release CSV versions of new database structures as time goes by)
  • collmgr (Collection Manager)