Database Object Code Generator (DBOW) version 0.3 released

Version 0.3 of the database code generator (DBOW) was released today. This release adds additional functionality to the code generator and streamlines the C and SQL produced.

DBOW is a source code generator written in C which takes a meta-description of a database table and produces SQL to generate the table and C, C++ or PHP source to manipulate the data. Not only does it hide the internals of SQL (and specifically MySQL), it provides functions for inserting, deleting, searching and updating the database.

For C programmers, DBOW will produce a .c and .h file which will define a C struct which is maintained by the DBOW-generated C functions. This handy little tool is designed to make interacting with a database considerably easier. Not just in terms of producing the SQL and C code for manipulating the data, but also for those mixed-language application where parts are coded in C or C++, the web front-end is in PHP and there are some Perl scripts which also interact with the database. By using DBOW, you develop the table definition only once and it produces the SQL, C/C++, Perl and PHP. Need a new column in the table? Add it to the DBOW file and regenerate the library functions.

No more out-of-sync PHP or C structs.

Because the system uses M4 as an intermediate language, it is very easy to extend DBOW to add other languages. All that is needed is a new M4 file to translate the macro definitions generated by DBOW into structs and function definitions in the specific language.