Re: Apache module for native PostgreSQL webpage serving

"Stefan Gyles" <sg@galaxit.be> writes:

> Does there exist an Apache module that allows for serving webpages from
> within a PostgreSQL database (similar to what Oracle does) ?  I can't find
> much out there, maybe it just doesn't exist.

I don't know of one but that doesn't mean there isn't.  There are
definitely modules to use PG as an authentication database in Apache,
but that's not what you're looking for.  You might try Googling and
searching the Apache site if you haven't already.

> On the other side we've got Linux (with which I have been working since 1993
> (slackware at the time)) with PostgreSQL.  But, as far as I know there is
> nothing comparable to the apps serving and design/development of dynamically
> generated webpages from within the PostgreSQL database and developed by a
> tool similar to Designer.

I think the philosophy most of us have is "a database shouldn't be a
webserver" (but see below).

> After thinking about this for months, for me the time is ripe to start doing
> something about it.  After all, Linux could use a good RAD webapp
> development tool similar to Oracle's.  So I want to write this tool.
> However I can't find any basics such as a application server type of thing
> for PostgreSQL.
>
> If necessary I'm willing to write it myself, however I'd prefer to
> concentrate on an application builder (generating PL/pgSQL).
>
> So is there somebody who could give me some non-commercial starting points
> for this ?  If there doesn't exist such a thing but you've thought about
> something similar I'd love to join forces.

The closest thing in the open-source world to what you're talking
about is Zope (www.zope.org).  It's quite a product.  It uses an
integrated object database (ZODB) to store pages, fragments of pages,
users, permissions, and anything else you can think of.  It can also
call out to an SQL database (PG, Oracle, Sybase etc) if you'd rather
put certain data there than in the ZODB.  It's written in Python and
C, and extensible in many ways.  You can administer it, add content
and even code through a web interface.  It also speaks WebDAV and FTP,
making integration with existing authoring tools fairly
straightforward.

So I'd suggest you look at Zope, just to get an idea of what's out
there.  I'll give you fair warning; there's a serious learning curve,
but people are doing a lot with it.

You could certainly write a 'mod_postgres_content' for Apache.  It
might be even easier to use mod_perl and Apache::DBI to do the same
thing, if you don't mind writing Perl code.  You could then start
building an application framework on top of it.  But you'd have to do
an awful lot of work to get even close to Zope.

There is also a PHP-based webapp framework that's been around for a
while called Midgard (www.midgard-project.org). It uses MySQL (boo
hiss!) instead of the obviously superior PG.  ;)

-Doug
--
Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.
   --T. J. Jackson, 1863