Developers Manual 1.20

4. Customising ReStore for Individual Databases

There have been several standards for SQL - the language of relational databases - but unfortunately most databases diverge from these to some extent. Fortunately, ReStore can be configured in various ways to accommodate most databases. 

As delivered, ReStore contains a standard configuration script with variants for both MS Access and MySQL. This chapter will show you how to use these as a basis to customise ReStore for your chosen database. For this, you will need access to documentation concerning your database, plus some knowledge of relational databases in general. If you require help in this direction, please contact us - we would like to build up a knowledge-base of configurations so that ReStore is usable across the widest possible range of databases.

 

MS Access
Microsoft Access is a good choice of database for use with ReStore. Like Dolphin it is specifically targetted at Windows, and has a very approachable user interface allowing you to easily view your data as it is stored in the database - giving you more of an insight into how ReStore works. 

One caveat with the use of Access is that, when configuring the ODBC Data Source, you must specify 'ExtendedAnsiSQL = 1' on the 'Advanced' setup screen:

 

MySQL
For a database to be suitable for use with ReStore, it must support transactions. Most databases provide these, but in the case of MySQL they are an 'optional extra' - briefly, the 'Max' variant of MySQL is required, with either Inno or Berkeley transactional tables. For a quick guide to setting up MySQL with Inno tables see the faq.

We particularly recommend MySQL for use with ReStore - it is fast, powerful and relatively lightweight, and as such is a good match for Dolphin itself. Also, MySQL has recently aquired a new logo which Dolphin users may find particularly appropriate...


4. Customising ReStore for Individual Databases

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