[IRCServices] New services implementations & Updates?

Jonathan George jonathan at lite.net
Sun May 28 09:05:06 PDT 2000


	I'm only going to comment on the SQL database implementation idea.

	I at one point, when writing a set of IRC services (from scratch)
was going to use an SQL database.  Yes, a web interface like you describe
is entirely possible (and a wonderful idea too, that was one of the main
reasons I was going to use SQL).

	But.  SQL will be no faster than keeping all records in a hash
table like we do now.  Services is not a threaded process, so we won't be
able to really make effective use of an SQL server, because it's designed
to be a database which can be access and modified in parallel by two or
more connections.  It just isn't worth the hassle of converting a *LOT* of
code to using it.  In fact, it'd be a near rewrite of Services in itself
just to add this feature -- all for what, a few webpages?

	My suggestion would be to add support for a socket listen(2)ing
and then have your CGI/PHP3/ASP/<whatever> connect to that socket and
request information from the database, send updates.. . etc.
	If you were to do the above then the ideas are endless.  You could
write a small program in VB which users could use to read memo's, be
notified of when they have new memo's in an ICQ like interface, edit your
user information.. . etc.  And most of all, you retain the original want:
you want a web interface.


	Questions about how I implemented SQL with the services I wrote
can be emailed to me...  I used MySQL in my design.

-----------------------------------------
// Jonathan George   : jonathan at lite.net
// Software Engineer : www.lite.net
// Personal WWW      : www.jdg.net
// IRC - (extasy)    : irc.lite.net
-----------------------------------------

|3. SQL DataBase Support for IRC Services:
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|WOOOHOOO!! YEAH! :)
|
|Just think of the possibilities here?  Web sites which enables users to
|send
|and receive memo's.  Nice HTML pages for nickserv and chanserv access
|lists?
|
|Cewl nick browsers for registered nicks?  Nickname searches?  Nickname
|PROFILES (You can even add pictures to the nicknames on an html interface
|if
|you know your php3 programming)
|
|History of nicknames?  This might include history on the nick's abusive
|maners,
|records of every account where the nickname has been suspended, or klined?
|
|I am really not going to say more here...   Be creative, and think it out
|for
|yourselve, this is key!!!
|
|For compatibility reasons, I would make the suggestion that the SQL
|DataBase
|be made an additional extra, or DEFINATELY enable / disable it with config
|or Makefile options.  I would actually recommend to enable / disable this
|in
|the Makefile, because of the fact that database support for the services
|can
|make the binaries rather big.
|
|Not everyone will have access to SQL databases, so we can't make Services
|depend on this type of database. But the advantages is obviously quite a
|bit...


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