problem with Pear DB - nextID()

k_julie

I have a sequence in my database called seqPublication. Does anyone know why when I call

$dbh->nextID('seqPublication');

it creates a sequence called seqpublication_seq?

I understand that it creates a new sequence if one does not exist, but shouldn't it be looking for a sequence with the name I gave it, not with '_seq' appended?

Thanx in advance.

toma42

No, you're not using it as it was intended.

You should give it the table name you want a next id for instead of naming your sequences yourself. As a rule, good database design uses a suffix of _seq for sequences with a prefix of the table name: table_seq

So, in order to use PEAR as it was designed, use:

$id = $db->nextId('mytablename');

k_julie

Okay then, so if I want my sequence to be named publication_seq I should call nextID('publication') and it will always append '_seq'? If this is they way it is suppose to work then it seems stupid to me. What good is a database abstractration layer if it assumes you name your sequences the same way everyone does? And if for whatever reason you don't name things like everyone else, it just won't work for you? I find it hard to believe the PEAR would enforce naming restrictions like this.

toma42

If you want your code to be less readable, harder for others to work with, and enjoy creating the square wheels, just edit the pear code to remove the _seq and don't complain.

k_julie

First of all, I have no problem naming my sequences with _seq. I just wanted to know why PEAR automatically appended it. It would seem to me that the naturally way of doing it would be to call nextID('publication_seq') if that is what the name rather than nextID('publication'). Espcially being concerned with code readability. People reading the code seeing 'publication' but then seeing the name 'publication_seq' in the database would most likely be very confused.

Second of all, just in case anyone else wonders, it is a configural option in PEAR of how you want to your sequences named. Just use $dbh->setOption('seqname_format' , '%s'); to keep if from appending '_seq'.

Thanks a lot for your critiscm. If you don't have a helpful answer or explanation maybe you shouldn't reply at all. Just saying "your doing it wrong" never helped anybody. Especially when I was doing it correctly, I just didn't realize there where configuration options. And apparently you didn't either so just stop pretending like you know everything.