net.loadbang-SQL

NEW: we have now refactored the code and added support for external MySQL databases: see the downloads and documentation.

When a database is first created, HSQLDB creates a small set of files on disk to store the database settings and data. The MXJ object makes sure these files get saved to the same directory as the place-holder file. (So, the entire database state is kept in files in the Max/MSP search path.) Assuming that these database files and the place-holder file are kept together, the database will persist indefinitely; every time a new MXJ object is created naming that place-holder file, the database will reappear.

The database system is HSQLDB, which is a lightweight database engine written entirely in Java. It can be run in embedded mode, which is why a separate database server is not needed. (So, applications built with Max/MSP can contain a relational database and still be standalone.)

By default, databases are held entirely in RAM, and are saved to disk as files of SQL queries. For more demanding work, HSQLDB can adopt different caching and storage schemes.

Because HSQLDB is written in Java, this package runs under both OS X and Windows.

Installation

You will need:

• Java 1.5. Under OS X, this may or may not be the default (it is now downloaded and made active as a system update under OS X 10.4.6). If not, it can be downloaded from Apple. (This appears to be Release 1; a System Update should upgrade it to Release 4.)
• HSQLDB itself. This can be downloaded from SourceForge, and we also have a copy of the JAR here, for convenience: hsqldb-1.8.0.jar.
• log4j: this can be downloaded from the Apache site, and we also have a copy of the JAR here: log4j-1.2.12.jar.
• The net.loadbang-lib library, available here: net.loadbang-lib-1.0.jar.
• The net.loadbang-SQL library itself: net.loadbang-SQL-1.4.jar. This contains a test MXJ object called NoddySQL.

Usage

Make sure that MXJ is using Java 1.5. If this is not the default, put the statement

max.java.jvm.version 1.5

into the file max.java.config.txt in the Cycling '74/java folder.

Testing

To test out the NoddySQL MXJ object, download the patcher file and its associated place-holder: NoddySQL.zip.

Documentation

Javadoc: browse /javadoc/net.loadbang-SQL/, or download /javadoc/net.loadbang-SQL.zip.