GNOME-DB is a

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...

application by the

GNOME A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...

community. The project aims to provide a free unified data access architecture to the

project for all

Unix Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and ot ...

platforms. GNOME-DB is useful for any application that accesses persistent data (not only databases, but data), since it now contains a data management

API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...

. Support for

GObject Introspection The GLib Object System, or GObject, is a free software, free software library providing a portable object system and transparent cross-language interoperability. GObject is designed for use both directly in C (programming language), C programs t ...

and

Vala Vala or VALA may refer to: Religion and mythology * Vala (Vedic), a demon or a stone cavern in the Hindu scriptures * Völva, also spelled Vala, a priestess in Norse mythology and Norse paganism Fiction * Vala (Middle-earth), an angelic being in ...

. Starting with the 4.2 series, GNOME-DB corresponds to the libgda library. The libgnomedb library provides "widgets" that allow users to interact with data in databases. It uses the libgda generic database API, so it can use MySQL, Postgres, Sqlite, etc.

GNU Data Access

GNU Data Access (GDA) is a set of plugin APIs, defined as generic as possible, so that any kind of data source can be accessed through them, to provide uniform access to different kinds of data sources (databases, information servers, mail spools, etc.). Similar to Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) or

Java Database Connectivity Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) is an application programming interface (API) for the programming language Java, which defines how a client may access a database. It is a Java-based data access technology used for Java database connectivity. ...

(JDBC), GNU Data Access is a wrapper but with more features to access several database engines. GNU Data Access has been developed as a complete architecture that provides everything required to access data sources. Libgda is mainly a database and a data abstraction layer. It is a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

that implements the interfaces defined by the GDA architecture, for both the client and the server parts. It additionally provides a bunch of tools to help with the development and the management of data sources via the GDA APIs. Libgda was part of the GNOME-DB project but has been separated from it to allow non-GNOME applications to be developed based on it. The libgda library is released under the terms of the

GNU Lesser General Public License The GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) is a free-software license published by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). The license allows developers and companies to use and integrate a software component released under the LGPL into their own ...

(LGPL), which allows for commercial applications to be developed based on libgda. Its command-line and UI tools are under the

GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the Four Freedoms (Free software), four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was th ...

(GPL). Libgda is a (relatively small) database access library: * features a metadata extractor (to know all about database objects in a common way) * comes with an SQL console application (like mysql, psql or sqlite3 consoles) * Libgda is coded in C, depends on

GLib GLib is a bundle of three (formerly five) low-level system libraries written in C and developed mainly by GNOME. GLib's code was separated from GTK, so it can be used by software other than GNOME and has been developed in parallel ever sinc ...

(and integrates with it), and

LibXML2 libxml2 is a software library for parsing XML documents. It is also the basis for the libxslt library which processes XSLT-1.0 stylesheets. Description Written in the C programming language, libxml2 provides bindings to C++, Ch, XSH, C#, Py ...

. * Libgda's UI extension depends on

GTK+ GTK (formerly GIMP ToolKit and GTK+) is a free and open-source cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs). It is licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License, allowing both free and proprie ...

* Libgda's graphical tools depend on GTK+ and optionally GooCanvas and

GraphViz Graphviz (short for ''Graph Visualization Software'') is a package of open-source tools initiated by AT&T Labs Research for drawing graphs specified in DOT language scripts having the file name extension "gv". It also provides libraries for ...

References

External links

GNOME-DB home page

GNOME-DB roadmap

libgda git

How to choose between Libgda and SQLite
Free database management systems Free software programmed in C GNOME libraries {{GNOME-stub sv:GNOME-DB

GNU Data Access

See also

References

External links