Re: [phpesp-dev] Choosing the right database abstraction layer

[James E. F. <jf...@uv...>]

Stefan Champailler wrote:
> Sorry to bring this back on the table, but I don't rememebr why we ended up 
> deciding for PEAR support. Why not use ODBC instead ? After all, it's a DB 
> abstraction too...
> 
> I ask because I feel I'll need transaction support and that is not clearly 
> documented in PEAR (but is in ODBC).
> 
> Just to make for fun, today I'm adding a feature to be able to include a 
> picture with a question.

Well, I would prefer PEAR to ODBC, but do what you have to do Stefan. 
Transactions are one of those features that will probably make phpESP 
less portable (with respect to database engines).  PEAR for the moment 
is the de-facto database abstraction layer for PHP, quite like DBI is to 
Perl.  That in itself is a very compelling reason to use it.  Using 
ODBC, I feel you will have to write more code than using DB.  I am not 
sure which would be better for portability.

As for including pictures, I assume you are using the http file upload 
capability?  You can of course embed an image (or any other media) at 
just about any point in a survey already, since you can add arbitrary 
HTML to most survey fields during design.  I believe with the section 
text question type, this has become even more flexible, as you can now 
even place HTML between questions.

Take it easy,
-James