ArunaDB

What is ArunaDB?

ArunaDB or Aruna DataBase is a database server written almost purely in Ruby. Here are the goals for Aruna in order of precedence:

The interface and usage is as Ruby "like" as possible. I did not what want to create a parser.
Let Ruby do as much of the work as possible. This means you use ruby to create tables, access data, define triggers, etc. Ruby is both the internal and external language for Aruna. In other words, view, triggers, and stored procedure are all written in Ruby. You also use Ruby to interact with your data.
I kept the ANSI SQL standard in mind as I created the methods for Aruna. The result is a collection of methods that are very Ruby centric and as close to the ANSI SQL standard as I could get them.
ANSI SQL support will be added on top of Aruna via ODBC after the initial server is working. I will probably use as much of the PostgreSQL yacc file and ODBC driver as possible to make this a little easier.

ArunaDB requires the Ruby programming language. You must download and install Ruby separately. ArunaDB has been tested with Ruby 1.6.4 (and current Ruby source) on linux Red Hat 6.2, FreeBSD 4.3 and Windows 2000/95 using cygwin.

I am a software developer trying to earn a living at creating software. I am currently investing a lot of time (and some money) into this project. Please help support this project when and where you can. For more information on helping out please visit pleasehelp.html.

What does Aruna mean?

Aruna is the Sanskrit word for Ruby. Since Aruna is already used elsewhere, I called it ArunaDB.

Status

I have completed several low-level classes such as A_FileStore, A_BTree, and A_Catalog for ArunaDB. I have also completed the ArunaDB Embedded classes called A_Column, A_Table, A_Index, A_View, A_Sequences but these are still a work in progress.

I not have yet created the actual server. The server will be a class called A_Database. A_Database will have two flavors, the server side and the client side. This will allow many users on many different computer to connect to a database server running on another computer. This will include support for users, permissions, and documetation on how to protect a database. This is next on my list of things to do.

ODBC and/or ANSI SQL is not yet supported. This will get done when I have time. Anyone want to help.

Features:

Create and drop tables - tables store and retrieve data.

Iterate over the rows in the table.

You can use read_first, read_last, read_next, read_prev, read_end as an alternative to iterators. Iterators actually use these methods. These also allow you to move forward and backward through the table at will.

Insert, update, and , delete rows to/from tables.

You can create views that reference multiple tables and use views just like tables. Views are not as easy to create as the ANSI SQL counter parts but they are very flexible.

Create and drop triggers - triggers are Ruby methods that are called before or after a row in inserted/deleted/updated in a table. These can be easily enabled/disabled depending on your needs.

Transaction support - you can begin a transaction, perform any number of updates/inserts/deletes and then commit or rollback the transaction. If any thing fails the transaction is automatically rolled back. Transaction support can be easily enabled/disabled for faster performance when needed. This is really usefully for loading table and a failing transaction is not as critical because the table can be truncated and reloaded if there is an error.

Transaction logging - allows you to log every update/delete/insert. The transaction logs can be used to keep other copies of the database updated and current. This can be easily enabled and disabled. This allows you some control over what gets put in the transaction log. For example, you may not want to log inserts/updates/deletes to temporary tables.

Real time backups of your data.

Multiple concurrent readers and writers. See the A_BTree class for details.

Why another database server?

While doing some unrelated research on the internet, I stumbled onto some comments about the Ruby programming language. I was very intrigued by several of these comments and decided to check it out. Soon, I and downloaded the language and bought the book called "Programming Ruby". It did not take long for me to fall in love with this language. While reading this book I saw, in my minds eye, an entire database server running in Ruby. I felt that all the needed software components where already in Ruby and they just needed to be pulled together in such a way to make a database server a reality. This gave birth to ArunaDB.

Who created Aruna?

Hi, my name is Michael Davis. I have writing software since 1979. I have programmed in Pascal, Modula 2, Fortran, Cobol, C, C++, and now in Ruby. Most of my programming experience is with C. I started working with databases in 1991. I have worked heavily with Oracle and Access 97. I worked a little with SQL Server on a project that required us migrate data from SQL Server to Oracle on a daily basis. I also working with PostgreSQL several years ago when I ported an Access97 database to PostgreSQL (only the data was migrated). I really enjoyed working PostgreSQL. I enjoy programming in Ruby a whole lot more. I would like to find work as a software developer in the very near future. I would prefer writing software in Ruby or C that involves a lot of database programming (preferably ArunaDB, PostgreSQL, or Oracle database programming). If you know of any organization(s) that could benefit from a Ruby, C, or database programmer, please put in a good word for me. No third party recruiters please.