Continuing support for Firebird database

180 views
Skip to first unread message

Paul Graves-DesLauriers

unread,
Nov 8, 2019, 1:57:21 PM11/8/19
to sqlalchemy
I saw in the SQLAlchemy 1.3 Documentation page for Firebird that the 'Firebird dialect within SQLAlchemy is not currently supported.  The dialect is not tested within continuous integration and is likely to have many issues and caveats not currently handled.'

I'd like to see the Firebird database have ongoing support within SQLAlchemy.  Firebird has been my database of choice since version 1.0, am currently using it, and plan to continue using it in the future.  It is still in active development.

For Python, I use the fdb DBAPI (official driver) along with Firebird dialect3 (current).  I would suggest removing support for the old dialect1 and kinterbasdb driver to simplify maintenance and testing.


Can I help with getting the dialect tested within the continuous integration and with resolving issues and caveats?  I use Jenkins on a daily basis and have been using Python for about 8 years. I'm now a performance test engineer, but have many years of experience as a software developer as well.  I am also willing to help with documentation and support.

Are there any other issues causing the Firebird database to losing ongoing support for it?

Thanks,
Paul

Lele Gaifax

unread,
Nov 8, 2019, 2:21:21 PM11/8/19
to sqlal...@googlegroups.com
Paul Graves-DesLauriers <pdex...@gmail.com> writes:

> Can I help with getting the dialect tested within the continuous
> integration and with resolving issues and caveats?

I think you are more than welcome! I used to contribute FB fixes in the past,
but since I do not use it anymore I could not keep that going.

ciao, lele.
--
nickname: Lele Gaifax | Quando vivrò di quello che ho pensato ieri
real: Emanuele Gaifas | comincerò ad aver paura di chi mi copia.
le...@metapensiero.it | -- Fortunato Depero, 1929.

Mike Bayer

unread,
Nov 8, 2019, 3:36:03 PM11/8/19
to noreply-spamdigest via sqlalchemy
Would you be interested in maintaining / owning / releasing Firebird separately, under   github.com/sqlalchemy/sqlalchemy-firebird ?    Because this is not a widely used dialect and I can't maintain CI for it under my own umbrella,  it would benefit by being maintained  and released separately.      We have recently modernized sqlalchemy-access with a new maintainer in a similar way.
--
SQLAlchemy -
The Python SQL Toolkit and Object Relational Mapper
 
 
To post example code, please provide an MCVE: Minimal, Complete, and Verifiable Example. See http://stackoverflow.com/help/mcve for a full description.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sqlalchemy" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to sqlalchemy+...@googlegroups.com.

Paul Graves-DesLauriers

unread,
Nov 8, 2019, 11:05:56 PM11/8/19
to sqlal...@googlegroups.com

This is unexpected…

 

I can do this if we can get things setup similarly to the sqlalchemy-access dialect.

 

Is there a test set for confirming the dialect is acceptable for SQLAlchemy?  Is there a sample test set I can use to confirm Firebird will work as expected (Like you use for SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, etc.)?  If so, I’m willing to give it a shot.  I am extremely happy with Firebird as a database and will probably end up doing this kind of work anyway…

 

Paul

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "sqlalchemy" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/sqlalchemy/yvsgiNtVYSk/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to sqlalchemy+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sqlalchemy/2932583d-e98e-4dea-9f0a-efb200c4648e%40www.fastmail.com.

Mike Bayer

unread,
Nov 11, 2019, 3:05:36 PM11/11/19
to noreply-spamdigest via sqlalchemy


On Fri, Nov 8, 2019, at 11:05 PM, Paul Graves-DesLauriers wrote:

This is unexpected…

 

I can do this if we can get things setup similarly to the sqlalchemy-access dialect.

 

Is there a test set for confirming the dialect is acceptable for SQLAlchemy?  Is there a sample test set I can use to confirm Firebird will work as expected (Like you use for SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, etc.)?  If so, I’m willing to give it a shot.  I am extremely happy with Firebird as a database and will probably end up doing this kind of work anyway…



SQLAlchemy contains a test suite that is explicitly for third party dialects to aim towards.     The vast majority of SQLAlchemy tests aren't needed for third party dialects to support, so the third party suite contains a much more carefully maintained set of "exportable" tests that every dialect should address, either by ensuring support is present or by marking a certain capability as skipped.

The background for this system is discussed at https://github.com/sqlalchemy/sqlalchemy/blob/master/README.dialects.rst.   The sqlalchemy-access work we just did allowed us to fix a few cases, so if Firebird can target this that would be how it does its tests once on the outside.




Paul Graves-DesLauriers

unread,
Nov 12, 2019, 12:21:51 AM11/12/19
to sqlal...@googlegroups.com

I’m reviewing the README.dialects and README.unittests files.  It certainly appears that this is a task that I can take on.

 

How do we go about splitting the Firebird support into a separate plugin?  Or perhaps, how was the sqlalchemy-access project created from the sqlalchemy master?

 

Thanks,

Mike Bayer

unread,
Nov 12, 2019, 9:43:13 AM11/12/19
to noreply-spamdigest via sqlalchemy


On Tue, Nov 12, 2019, at 12:20 AM, Paul Graves-DesLauriers wrote:

I’m reviewing the README.dialects and README.unittests files.  It certainly appears that this is a task that I can take on.

 

How do we go about splitting the Firebird support into a separate plugin?  Or perhaps, how was the sqlalchemy-access project created from the sqlalchemy master?


one step at a time, basically.   create a repository, create the file structure, lift and move the firebird files from SQLAlchemy over to your new repository, start getting basic hello world style functionality going.       Once you get something working we can transfer your repo into the sqlalchemy/ organization.




Gord Thompson

unread,
Dec 21, 2019, 1:50:19 PM12/21/19
to sqlalchemy
Hi Paul.

I'm the one who volunteered to revive the sqlalchemy-access dialect and maintain it. Feel free to have a look at


to get an idea of the project structure. If you need a hand getting things up and running I'd be happy to help.

Cheers,
Gord

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to sqlal...@googlegroups.com.

 

--

SQLAlchemy -

The Python SQL Toolkit and Object Relational Mapper

 

 

To post example code, please provide an MCVE: Minimal, Complete, and Verifiable Example. See http://stackoverflow.com/help/mcve for a full description.

---

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "sqlalchemy" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to sqlal...@googlegroups.com.

 

--

SQLAlchemy -

The Python SQL Toolkit and Object Relational Mapper

 

 

To post example code, please provide an MCVE: Minimal, Complete, and Verifiable Example. See http://stackoverflow.com/help/mcve for a full description.

---

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sqlalchemy" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to sqlal...@googlegroups.com.

--
SQLAlchemy -
The Python SQL Toolkit and Object Relational Mapper
 
http://www.sqlalchemy.org/
 
To post example code, please provide an MCVE: Minimal, Complete, and Verifiable Example. See http://stackoverflow.com/help/mcve for a full description.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "sqlalchemy" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/sqlalchemy/yvsgiNtVYSk/unsubscribe.

To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to sqlal...@googlegroups.com.

Paul Graves-DesLauriers

unread,
Dec 24, 2019, 2:34:00 PM12/24/19
to sqlal...@googlegroups.com

Fantastic!  I could use some help getting over some hurdles in getting things up and running.

 

I’ve already used your project as my example for getting going with sqlalchemy-firebird.  Let me commit what I have so far, along with some questions about testing.  I’ll probably be doing this after Christmas – I’ll let you know.

 

Thanks again, I’m looking forward to working with you.

 

Paul

To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to sqlalchemy+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sqlalchemy/ae8873eb-8f23-4730-9f43-eb95f0ffa391%40googlegroups.com.

Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages