Porting CRM Application to Postgres

   I was advised to ask on this list for ideas on assisting application
developers quickly port their hard-wired MySQL application to postgres.  My
need (and that of others who have contacted me about the same issue) is with
XRMS <http://xrms.sourceforge.net/>. While I'm not a fan of web-based
applications, I'm apparently in the minority on this issue, so I just shrug
and use them because I have no options.

   Xrms is the best I've seen in the sales administration/customer (client)
relationship management arena. It is much better for solo consultants or
small companies without a separate sales department, but it can also be used
by the latter. It's written in php and uses the ADOdb dbms abstraction
toolkit. When I inquired about difficulties supporting postgres on the ADOdb
mail list, I learned that it's very easy to write a mysql-specific
application using adodb to communicate between the middleware and the dbms
backend. Apparently, use of postgres reserved words and mysql-specific
extensions or non-compliant syntax are the most likely stumbling blocks.

   Last January, I saw interest in porting the application to postgres in the
xrms web forum. I added my support to the request. Since then, I've done
some work in terms of table and attribute name capitalization for the xrms
developer who is looking at the postgres port. However, over the past month
or so he does not respond to my emails offering help if he provides me with
direction.

   It would probably take too much time and effort to port xrms into a stand
alone application using python and the wxPython UI toolset. But, if those
who know much more about postgres and php than do I can get the xrms project
leader to agree to accept help, then those of us who have neither the need
nor the desire for multiple dbms' on our systems, each to support a specific
application, would be grateful.

Thanks for suggestions,

Rich

--
Richard B. Shepard, Ph.D.               |    The Environmental Permitting
Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc.(TM)    |            Accelerator
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