I would like to see SilverStripe CMS work with PostgreSQL right out of the box.

http://www.postgresql.org/

Would you mind explaining your rationale? I have used postgresql in the past and can understand how the two different databases (i.e. MySQL) run, but it is helpful for us to know what is going on in your head so that we can ensure the development roadmap is catering for everyone's needs.

Specifically, we need to ask questions like "is it better to build new feature X, which may be used by all users, vs building support for PostgreSQL, which does not really add much in terms of features, and only provides functionality for a subset of users".

One reason I can see for a need for this is for those with existing postgres database/applications; it would be easier to tie them to SilverStripe if it supported postgres natively.

Enlightened_One - do you know very much about the differences in SQL syntax between Postgres and MySQL? This will be the biggest hurdle to overcome...

Specifically:
* Create table and alter table (add index and add field) syntaxes
* Auto-increment index creation
* Selects / Joins / Where
* Table / Field delimeters (`backticks` in MySQL)
* string & date functions available, IN () clauses, INTERVAL clauses

If you could share your knowledge in these areas, we'd be able to work out how big a job it would be. Perhaps you could even assist in the development of a PostgreSQL plug-in?

Why PostgreSQL? I have in my head the ambitious concept of a ready to roll OpenBSD based PHP server that includes a CMS a.k.a. ~SilverStripe CMS pre-installed...or ready to be installed. I have chosen SilverStripe because of the BSD license. I am interested in using PostgreSQL because PostgreSQL is BSD licensed. I am impressed that you use lighttpd, as it is BSD licensed also. I had not heard of lighttpd until joining this forum.

OpenBSD ships with Apache 1.3.xx + lighttpd is a package of OpenBSD. So that part is easy. Configuration is another game. Anyone want to share running configurations of lighttpd running PHP with SilverStripe CMS on FreeBSD ????

I am calling this project oBAPP (OpenBSD-Apache-PostgreSQL-PHP)
BSD licensed (c) Gregory L. Magnusson 2007. If the SilverStripe CMS used PostreSQL as a database the SilverStripe CMS could be included in this package. I am reluctant to include MySQL, as that would involve licensing fees. What I see is a PHP server that will be (mostly) pre-configured providing a ready to roll content management system in a somewhat secure manner (in an OpenBSD jail). Ideally, this system would be pure BSD + PHP licensed.

The oBAMP project is similar in concept to the Ubuntu LAMP server.
http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/webdesign/php/archives/lamp-installation-on-ubuntu6061server-12373

I recognize that a project of this magnitude will take some time to complete. I have been doing research into methods of pre-configuring OpenBSD for some time. I am also intrigued by the FrenzyBSD project, a FreeBSD based forensic analysis toolkit that may easily configure into a FreeBSD-lighttpd-PostgreSQL-PHP server that would work as a live CD, on Hard-Disk or USB pen.

fBLPP (FreeBSD-lighttpd-PostgreSQL-PHP) BSD licensed (c) Gregory L. Magnusson 2007

Neither of the above projects has a web page. This is the first public utterance of these aforementioned projects. You see. I am working on installing the SilverStripe CMS to use as a CMS for these, and other, BSD projects. Am I ahead of myself? Yes, because before I begin working on PostgreSQL support I should really install a working copy of the SilverStripe CMS.

http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/webdesign/php/archives/mysql-5027-on-openbsd-38-14409

Am I willing to work on PostgreSQL support? Absolutely! I expect to learn a lot from SilverStripe.

I believe the answer to Database connectivity will come from the BSD licensed PEAR MDB2
http://pear.php.net/package/MDB2
http://pear.php.net/manual/en/package.database.mdb2.php

I will keep you posted with my progress. Thanks for your responses.

Perhaps you would be interested in the mafiasession login script code. I have just been reviewing this today, and I like the outline + the way that both MySQL and PostgreSQL are accessed by the script. This would be an interesting way of authenticating users. Your thoughts?

http://www.phpclasses.org/browse/package/3705.html

I must admit that I must review much more of the SilverStripe code before I can assess a realistic solution.

PostgreSQL database access wrapper is a PHP5 class to establish database connection and execute SQL querries. BSD Licensed (c) Martin Maros .

http://www.phpclasses.org/browse/package/3462.html

class must Specifically:
* Create table and alter table (add index and add field) syntaxes
* Auto-increment index creation
* Selects / Joins / Where
* Table / Field delimeters (`backticks` in MySQL)
* string & date functions available, IN () clauses, INTERVAL clauses

class does
gets affected rows
gets results from select query
gets one col from a table
gets one row from a table
runs query - wrapper for ExecQuery
gets no of rows
gets last inserted id
gets results from select query
gets one var from a table
inserts rows
updates row
deletes rows
locks table fields for insert or update
sets SQL statement for IN items
sets SQL statements for NOT IN items
escapes string for safe use in a query

class can be downloaded from www.phpclasses.org
http://www.phpclasses.org/browse/package/3462/download/targz.html

Greg, your project sounds neat, so thanks for letting us know why you were interested in postgres: it was certainly a (good) surprise... I was much more expecting a motivation along the lines of Postgres' features rather than license freedom.

By the way, my surname is also Magnusson :) So you might just get a bit more love from the SilverStripe team... :P

Just to update on this rather old thread. As you will have noticed, postgres database support is being added to SilverStripe as we speak, thanks to Google Summer of Code.