2011 HTSQL News Archive

HTSQL 2.2.1 is released

Published by cce on 2011-12-15

The final release for 2.2 series is now available. This release was focused on usability improvements, metadata functionality gaps, and better Python integration. In this release we include:

  • support for configuration files and plugin parameters
  • a web-based query editor with highlighting & auto-completion (tweak.shell)
  • a meta database for querying tables, columns and links (tweak.meta)
  • integration with Django and SQLAlchemy (tweak.django, tweak.sqlalchemy)
  • an API for making parameterized queries from Python applications
  • improved database introspection, error messages, and usability fixes
  • binary packages for Debian and RHEL

We also added a tweak.override plugin to provide granular control over the introspected database catalog; this plugin allows you to:

  • restrict access to particular tables and columns
  • provide missing unique and foreign key constraints
  • change table, column and link labels
  • define calculated fields and table methods

Read more…

HTSQL 2.2.0rc1 is released

Published by xi on 2011-11-22

The first release candidate for the 2.2 release is now available. The primary change from the last beta is the introduction of a new tweak.override addon which provides detailed control over the database metadata:

  • restrict access to particular tables and columns
  • configure missing unique and foreign keys
  • change table, column and link labels
  • define calculated fields

The other major change is auto completion of table, column and link names in the htsql-ctl shell and the web-based editor. We also added a @ scope reset operator. Finally, we now have binary packages for Debian and RedHat GNU/Linux systems.

Read more…

Discussion of JSON/CSV Headers

Published by cce on 2011-10-01

In recent months, we’ve added hierarchical headers to the text formatter, the HTML formatter and the custom table formatter found in the HTSQL command shell. What lags behind is the JSON formatter. This is a discussion of what sort of headers we wish for JSON/CSV outputs.

Read more…

Discussion on Location

Published by cce on 2011-08-28

In htsql, we would like a short-hand notation to locate a given row in a table without having to mention the primary key columns. This is especially important for insert, update and delete operations.

Read more…

HTSQL 2.2.0b1 is released

Published by cce on 2011-09-20

The first beta of the 2.2 release is now available.

The new release brings two major features:

  • a mechanism to query HTSQL’s system catalog
  • a query editor for the web /w syntax highlighting

Read more…

HTSQL 2.2 Roadmap

Published by cce on 2011-08-31

The theme for HTSQL 2.2 is “Form Applications”. Our focus for this release will be on functionality gaps that hinder use of HTSQL by developers to create Javascript based “CRUD” applications.

Read more…

HTSQL 2.1.1 is released

Published by cce on 2011-08-30

This is the final release of HTSQL 2.1 aka “Query Power”. This release focuses on supporting analytical queries with projections and calculated attributes.

Read more…

HTSQL Roadmap for August, 2011

Published by cce on 2011-08-09

This month we improved the generated SQL for projections and multiple-aggregates. We intend to release 2.1-FINAL this month, after additional code cleanup and documention work. Additionally, we’re scoping features for 2.2, including configuration files, plugin parameters, commands, introspection, catalog extensions, and record-based CRUD operations.

HTSQL 2.1.0rc1 is released

Published by xi on 2011-06-21

The first release candidate for the 2.1 release is now available. Changes since the last beta:

  • Added /:tsv formatter that generates output in tab-separated format (thank to Andrey Popp).
  • A lot of updates to the tutorial, the reference and other documentation.
  • Minor code updates and bug fixes.

Read more…

HTSQL Roadmap for June, 2011

Published by cce on 2011-06-08

This month we have been working on documentation in preparation for a 2.1 release. In particular, we’ve been focusing on the reference and incorporating HTRAF documentation into the website. Time permitting we will work on various query optimizations, especially for projections.

HTSQL 2.1.0b3 is released

Published by xi on 2011-05-13

A new beta of the 2.1 release is now available.

Read more…

Introducing References

Published by cce on 2011-05-12

Recently we introduced calculated attributes and table methods. Today we introduce references, denoted with a dollar-sign $ to provide a separate aliasing mechanism that cascades through scope boundaries.

Read more…

Discussion on Catalog

Published by cce on 2011-08-09

This is a brainstorm topic on catalog structure, extensions, and access. On startup, HTSQL introspects the database to find catalog information. Sometimes this information needs to be augmented with additional detail, including missing information, renaming links, providing for calculated attributes and custom application data.

Read more…

Discussion on Commands

Published by cce on 2011-07-26

In HTSQL, we’d like commands and functions to have the same syntax. How do we make this work?

Read more…

HTSQL 2.X Usability Discussion

Published by cce on 2011-09-06

This is a brainstorm discussion blog entry on usability items needed for HTSQL adoption. It includes discussion of editor, installer, configuration and development.

Read more…

HTSQL Roadmap for May, 2011

Published by xi on 2011-05-02

This month we are going to add a linking operator (->), a concept of references ($ name), a shortcut syntax that combines selection and definition ({ attr := (expr) }) and automatically populate the namespace of projection.

Read more…

Improving the HTSQL Grammar

Published by cce on 2011-04-30

These past few weeks we significantly updated the grammar to reduce the learning curve of HTSQL by making it more regular. The introduction of the tutorial and syntax reference have been updated appropriately.

Read more…

What is Wrong with SQL (and why HTSQL is the way to go)?

Published by xi on 2011-05-10

SQL was invented with a promise of opening data access to people who are not professional programmers – but ended up as an arcane art for database experts. This transformation didn’t go unnoticed, but the reason why writing SQL queries is so hard was never properly explained.

Frustration on usage of SQL often expressed as complains about its bulky syntax, inconsistent semantics, and occasionally about SQL violating the relational model.

I believe the problem of SQL, and relational model in general, is that it does not respect the structure of business requests. takes a form of complains

Read more…

HTSQL Roadmap for April, 2011

Published by cce on 2011-03-31

The HTSQL 2.1 release is scoped to deliver extended query functionality for advanced queries. The previous betas of 2.1 added support for more backends, datetime, projections, and calculated attributes. Here we discuss features yet to be implemented for the HTSQL 2.1 final release.

Read more…

HTSQL 2.1.0b2 is released

Published by xi on 2011-03-29

A new beta of the 2.1 release is now available. Changes since the last beta:

  • Added support for datetime and time date types; see Introducing Support for Timestamps for more details.
  • Added support for calculated attributes, define() and where() macros; see Introducing Calculated Attributes for more details.
  • Added addon tweak.pgsql.catalog: configure primary and foreign keys for pg_catalog.* tables.
  • Added addon tweak.schema: allow addressing a table in a specified schema as <schema>_ identifier.
  • Added addon tweak.autolimit: add LIMIT clause to each query.
  • Added addon tweak.pgsql.timeout: set statement timeout for each query.
  • Added Jinja integration demo.
  • Many minor fixes and updates.

Introducing Support for Timestamps

Published by xi on 2011-03-25

The initial 2.0 release only supported the date type. Recently, support for a datetime and time data types has been added.

Read more…

Introducing Calculated Attributes

Published by cce on 2011-03-14

During our work converting SQL queries to HTSQL, we found a need for re-usable query fragments. This week we introduce define() which names a calculated column or parameterized expression.

Read more…

HTSQL 2.1.0b1 is released

Published by xi on 2011-03-09

The first beta of the 2.1 release is now available.

The new release brings two major features:

Introducing Projections

Published by cce on 2011-02-18

This past week we committed provisional code for projections, a virtual table which consists of distinct values from a particular expression. This is comparable to SQL’s DISTINCT / GROUP BY.

Read more…

HTSQL Roadmap for April, 2011

Published by cce on 2011-03-31

The HTSQL 2.1 release is scoped to deliver extended query functionality for advanced queries. The previous betas of 2.1 added support for more backends, datetime, projections, and calculated attributes. Here we discuss features yet to be implemented for the HTSQL 2.1 final release.

Read more…

HTSQL 2.1 Development Update

Published by cce on 2011-03-20

This is a development status update for HTSQL 2.1, including a statement of scope, notes on projections, database backends and numerous other features that we’re currently working on.

Read more…

Open question: ambiguous names

Published by xi on 2011-03-30

In HTSQL, tables are addressed by name while the table schema is ignored. This creates an ambiguity when the same table name exists in more than one schema. This article describes several workarounds and possible solutions.

Read more…

HTSQL 2.0.1 is released

Published by cce on 2011-02-01

Today we’ve tagged the final release of HTSQL 2.0 — a high-level query language and web service gateway for relational databases. This release supports SQLite and PostgreSQL. We wrote this tool so that business analysts could actually use a database.

We’re curious what you think.

Fixed since the release candidate:

  • Merged /:json and /:jsonex renderers; use /:jsonex layout to avoid CSRF issues.
  • Documentation updates.