Re: [Ardanet-developers] Project Roadmap

[Josh H. <jo...@hu...>]

MySQL is opensources, as is Postgres SQL.  Either one we can use for free.
I have much more experience with MySQL.

The main thing I love about SQL is the portability.  You can use it in any
of the applications, so like you said, we can have a front-end on the
website that searches it, and an interface in the game.  It just makes
accessing the same data easier because then we only have to update 1 source
with any changes instead of changing it in multiple locations.

--Josh H.

On 8/8/07, Ris Misner <rm...@ne...> wrote:
>
>  I looked at random example cards in each of those 3 websites to compare
> the way they show the information.
>
>
>
> Of those 3, the one I liked the best was this one:
> http://www.swccgpc.com/wiki/index.php?title=3DMajor_Haash%27n.  It has th=
e
> basic structure I had in mind, but of course I would add lots more
> subsections=85
>
>
>
> However, the http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/ site starts to approach the
> card search engine I'd like to build into Ardanet, so it also makes a goo=
d
> example of the kind of stuff I have in mind.
>
>
>
> I can imagine a super-powerful tool if we could combine those two sets of
> functionality =96 the ability to search the cards with an interface like
> http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/ and then click on the results to get inf=
o
> that is detailed like
> http://www.swccgpc.com/wiki/index.php?title=3DMajor_Haash%27n.
>
>
>
> The last one http://cards.swccgpc.com/  doesn't have enough info IMO - al=
l
> it shows is the card name, a scan of the card, and the rarity.  But it ma=
kes
> me think it is important to have access to a simplified view like this fo=
r
> when you don't need all the extra info, so Ardanet should support this ki=
nd
> of interface too.  Ideally, the user could customize how much info to sho=
w
> in the summaries shown from the search results, and then clicking would
> always take you to a more detailed page like
> http://www.swccgpc.com/wiki/index.php?title=3DMajor_Haash%27n.
>
>
>
> Now this all gets me thinking=85
>
>
>
> We planned a searchable card database for Ardanet already.  It's necessar=
y
> data.  We had planned to implement this data as a proprietary file format
> using custom C++ data structures, a sort of do-it-yourself card database,=
 in
> order to have maximum control over the way the data was organized and how=
 we
> implemented the searches.  Also because I've never written SQL code befor=
e
> :P  But I am starting to think that SQL may be a better way to go, for
> reasons I will get into, so let's discuss this=85
>
>
>
> Rather than focus a lot of effort on developing web-based documentation
> for all this info, maybe we should focus on the card database interface t=
hat
> will eventually be in-game, and make it also serve as the help system, an=
d
> the rules database!  This would enable the in-game card database to inclu=
de
> self-contained links to the actual rules, and we could also use Ardanet
> (read: bug test Ardanet) while entering all the info we would otherwise
> enter into the wiki or Josh H's MySQL database or any of these other
> websites.  I mean, to spend all this time entering all this info, we shou=
ld
> do it in a way that can be used at play-time by Ardanet.
>
>
>
> Also, I'm intrigued that you already have a lot of info a MySQL database,
> which sounds like a very good starting point for what I'm suggesting=85
>
>
>
> Another thought I have is that=85 Josh H is doing MySQL stuff with PHP to
> make websites=85 we can do MySQL stuff with C++ or .NET to implement the =
game
> play in Ardanet =85 hmmm=85 can they share the same database file?  Presu=
mably
> yes.  Most of the same SQL statements too I would imagine=85 So it sounds=
 to
> me like it would be a good idea to share a SQL database between Ardanet a=
nd
> a web-based search engine which yields results with details like
> http://www.swccgpc.com/wiki/index.php?title=3DMajor_Haash%27n which I ass=
ume
> we can render in any custom interface on either a website or in Ardanet. =
 In
> my ignorance of SQL programming, I think it's just a matter of adding dat=
a
> fields to include all the extra info we want, in order to reference the
> additional sections we'd want to put on wiki pages like references to the
> rules, examples, walkthroughs, strategy tips, errata, card stats,
> everything.  The rules themselves should be able to go in a separate tabl=
e
> within the same SQL database, using a different format for the columns an=
d
> records in the rules table than in the card info table, right?
>
>
>
> We wanted to make the card database editable, searchable, and detailed
> within Ardanet anyway, in our runtime data, so I'm thinking we should mak=
e
> this the first priority for the user interface windows (after I figure ou=
t
> dockable frames as a general framework issue, or even before that) and ma=
ke
> both the card database viewer, searcher, and editor windows, as well as t=
he
> game rules viewer, searcher, and editor windows, and do all those windows
> before we get into the game-play windows.  We need the data at runtime
> before we can render it in game-play windows anyway, and if we use SQL, i=
t
> seems like we should be able to share all the data between a web interfac=
e
> and the Ardanet in-game interfaces.  Does that make sense?  Does it sound
> like a good idea?
>
>
>
> I think both of you know more about SQL than I do.  What do you think of
> this approach?
>
>
>
> The two main drawbacks I see are that I've never done anything with SQL
> before, and also that I've never done anything with SQL before.  LOL.  Bu=
t I
> can learn=85
>
>
>
> What about licensing, can we use it for free?  I assume there's something
> available somewhere that we're allowed to use in an open-source project,
> right?
>
>
>
> -- Ris
>
>
>
>
>  ------------------------------
>
> *From:* ard...@li... [mailto:
> ard...@li...] *On Behalf Of *Josh
> Hunholz
> *Sent:* Monday, August 06, 2007 1:53 PM
> *To:* Developer discussion
> *Subject:* Re: [Ardanet-developers] Project Roadmap
>
>
>
>
>
>  Funny you should mention this one too...I'm currently working on this as
> a tool. :)
>
>
>
> Again, awesome!  I'd love to take a look at what you've done with that so
> far, do you have a link I can visit?
>
>
> I've gone back and forth in my mind with how I want to implement this: a
> wiki or a database.  There are advantages to both.  As a wiki, we can sho=
w
> Card of the Day articles that are for that card, as well as strategy tips=
,
> decks built around the card, and lots of other things like that.  As a
> database, it's easy to integrate into the forums on councilofelrond.organ=
d
> meccg.net (which was my original goal).  Here are the two sites I'm
> modeling it after:
>
> http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/
> http://www.swccgpc.com/wiki/index.php?title=3DMain_Page
> http://cards.swccgpc.com/
>
> The second site, the Star Wars CCG (decipher game) Player's Committee
> site, has both a database and a wiki, which is cool.
>
> I had started working on code for the database, then realized I should
> come up with the database structure before I went too far with it.  So
> currently I have a lot of the info in a mysql database, but still haven't
> gotten around to making a nice view for it.
>
> Okay, I've gotta get back to work, but wanted to get some updates out on
> this stuff.
>
> --Josh
>
>
>
>
>
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