Now that a lot of people are working on modifications, and getting the hang of doing things, is anyone interested in organizing the various wants/needs of the forum into a collaborative set of projects?
There are many smaller things that people can tackle and which can be integrated into larger projects, and a bigger whole.
If everyone agrees to certain standards, and conventions, and calling/naming conventions, then many of the things we do can be built into the next version of Links, and be extended upon again, etc.
What this could be simplified as is a "developers guide" and then a list of components that are needed.
Is anyone interested?
Right now I have several things nearing release, and have partially created a shopping system that fits my needs -- it can be expanded by others who have different needs.
My needs are I need each link in the database to point to one and only one item in the catalog (or no items), but each item in the catalog can be referenced by many links. I only need a quantity of 1, then sold out, but I've left room for it to handle inventory and such.
I've modified the existing scripts to access the various features, so there is nothing "funky". All calls go through DBSQL.pm, and the CATALOG database is linked to the Links database by a field added to the Links record (This is the many-to-one linking of the Links database to catalog).
I've left room to expand it into a separate free-standing catalog, that can link to the Links database, and I might also add in a reverse one-to-many linking, since there are ways to do it.
The first release is for specifically my needs, but I want to expand it to be a generalized catalog, so I can set up a catalog site. All the catalog programs out there are pretty bad, and Links SQL has all the features (except MC/Visa transactions) built in -- user verification, cookies, sessions, search, detail pages, etc.
What are needed are some good templates, and a re-design of the database a bit to run as a catalog not as a Link/URL type of system.
This will then link into the Advertising/banner program so that you have flexibility in joining your catalog and database together.
Big project, but 90% of the time is design, since the functionality is already in Links SQL. Good design solves 90% of the problems before you encounter them!
Any takers??
There are many smaller things that people can tackle and which can be integrated into larger projects, and a bigger whole.
If everyone agrees to certain standards, and conventions, and calling/naming conventions, then many of the things we do can be built into the next version of Links, and be extended upon again, etc.
What this could be simplified as is a "developers guide" and then a list of components that are needed.
Is anyone interested?
Right now I have several things nearing release, and have partially created a shopping system that fits my needs -- it can be expanded by others who have different needs.
My needs are I need each link in the database to point to one and only one item in the catalog (or no items), but each item in the catalog can be referenced by many links. I only need a quantity of 1, then sold out, but I've left room for it to handle inventory and such.
I've modified the existing scripts to access the various features, so there is nothing "funky". All calls go through DBSQL.pm, and the CATALOG database is linked to the Links database by a field added to the Links record (This is the many-to-one linking of the Links database to catalog).
I've left room to expand it into a separate free-standing catalog, that can link to the Links database, and I might also add in a reverse one-to-many linking, since there are ways to do it.
The first release is for specifically my needs, but I want to expand it to be a generalized catalog, so I can set up a catalog site. All the catalog programs out there are pretty bad, and Links SQL has all the features (except MC/Visa transactions) built in -- user verification, cookies, sessions, search, detail pages, etc.
What are needed are some good templates, and a re-design of the database a bit to run as a catalog not as a Link/URL type of system.
This will then link into the Advertising/banner program so that you have flexibility in joining your catalog and database together.
Big project, but 90% of the time is design, since the functionality is already in Links SQL. Good design solves 90% of the problems before you encounter them!
Any takers??