I would like to announce the production release of version 2.3 of KirbyBase, a small, pure-Ruby database management system that stores it's data in plain-text files.
You can download it here:
Windows: http://www.netpromi.com/files/KirbyBase_Ruby_2.3.zip
Linux/Unix: http://www.netpromi.com/files/KirbyBase_Ruby_2.3.tar.gz
Here's whats new since the 2nd beta:
* A lot of code cleanup and some bug fixes.
* The manual has been updated with the new features. By the way, the manual really needs to be re-organized/re-written, something I'm a little too burnt out to do right now. If anyone enjoys writing documentation ( 
) and would be interested in helping with this, please let me know.
* And, the most dramatic addition, the implementation of *The Hal Fulton Feature* (TM). I have implemented the shortcut designation for a Lookup field that Hal has requested for some time. Check out the example in the example/lookup_field_test directory or the manual to see what this is.
Here are the other new features rolled in from betas 1 and 2:
* New column type: :YAML. If you designate a column as a :YAML type, then you can store anything that YAML can handle in this field. This opens up the possibility for now storing arrays and hashes in KirbyBase. KirbyBase takes care of calling YAML.load() and #to_yaml for you, so you can just use the field as a normal native Ruby type. One nice side effect of this is that you can even use :YAML fields in your #select queries. Many thanks to Logan Capaldo for this idea!
* Two new methods: #add_table_column and #drop_table_column.
* You can now define one-to-one relationships and one-to-many relationships between tables. I hesitate to call KirbyBase "relational", because I know that the term, in its pure form, is supposed to refer to whether the dbms supports relational algebra, not relations between tables. That being said, KirbyBase now supports the ability to link a field in one table to another table, so that when you perform a select, you automatically have available in that field a reference to either a single record (for one-to-one links) or multiple records (for one-to-many) links.
* You can now define calculated fields in a table. These are "virtual" fields that don't get populated with data until runtime. For example, you can create a field called "total" and specify that it's value is "quantity * price". During a #select, KirbyBase will, for each record, calculate the value of "total" by multiplying the "quantity" field by the "price" field. Check out the example in the calculated_field_test directory.
* Two new fields types are available for table fields: Memo and Blob. Check out the example in the memo_test directory.
* KirbyBase now makes available "crosstab" functionality in the result set of a #select. I am probably not using the term "crosstab" correctly, but I am having a hard time finding the right word to use. Basically, you now have available all of the values for a particular column of the result set. Probably the best way to see what this is is to take a look at the example in the crosstab_test directory.
* KirbyBase now has the ability to take advantage of indexes if you specify them when you create a table. Both single and compound indexes are supported.
I would like to thank all of the people who provided bug fixes, suggestions, and ideas for version 2.3.
Enjoy!
Jamey Cribbs
jcribbs@twmi.rr.com
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) and would be interested in helping with this, please let me know.