NYCPHP Meetup

[Patrick May]

Allen,

Maybe there's a way of storing data in a structured manner on the
filesystem, so that you can use subversion / etc to manage changes to that
data?

It might be a bad idea, but it's the first thing I thought of.

~ p



On Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 9:32 AM, Allen Shaw <ashaw at polymerdb.org> wrote:

> Hi Gang,
>
> Banging my head against this wall, wondered if you all might know something
> I don't.  (It does happen often, I find.)
>
> I need to provide several users with access to an online php/mysq database
> app, where the user's Internet connection is intermittently slow or down.
>  We've used this (custom-written) database app quite well for a long time,
> but this Internet connection, combined with these users' need for real-time
> data to make moment-to-moment decisions -- it makes for a tricky challenge:
>  either they suffer with using the system over this slow connection, or I
> find a way to bridge the gap for them.
>
> FYI, this is a hotel rooms management system being used to check guests in
> as they arrive.  The Internet connection we've been given here in Paraguay
> is pretty spotty.  We're in several hotels in town and need the data shared
> in real time across all locations, so something like just running a local
> copy seems like its not an option.
>
> Still, I'm trying to make a way for the user to have "mostly current" data
> from the central system, and also enter data without waiting for each
> request to be approved.  I have been thinking you could run a local copy of
> the system on the user's laptop, then have some helper program in the back
> that communicates with the central server to send and receive data
> asynchronously, pushing user changes and polling for new data from the
> central server as fast as the Internet connection allows.  The idea is that,
> except for a few minutes of latency, the user would never know the
> difference.
>
> The big problem I'm running into is managing potential data collisions:
> data changes from two or more users that conflict with each other but aren't
> discovered until later because of the latency.  As far as I can see this is
> an application-specific problem -- that is, it's up to the developer (me) to
> make the application smart enough to watch conflicts and prevent collisions.
>
> But, having wracked my brain over this for a few days already, I finally
> thought it would be wise to at least ask somebody if there might be an
> easier way, some product that's designed to serve as a proxy or to ease this
> kind of 'intermittent connection' situation.  A mysql product named "mysql
> proxy" got my attention because of its name, but from what I can tell it
> doesn't do what I'm describing here.
>
> You all have any thoughts?
>
> - Allen
>
> --
> Allen Shaw
> slidePresenter (http://slides.sourceforge.net)
>
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-- 
Patrick May
135 Oak Street
New York, NY 11222
+1 (347) 232-5208
patrick at hexane.org
http://www.hexane.org
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