Announcing LDSql

Discussions around miscellaneous technologies and projects for the general membership.
RossEvans
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#31

Post by RossEvans »

elderlarryhawkes wrote:The output of MyWard was a set of HTML files that could be put on a PC or PDA, and with any web browser, used as a quick reference for most all ward callings and membership info.
Will LDSql output possibly provide an HTML output option?

If somebody writes one. The SQLite engine and my own LDSql schema are freely open for anyone to use.

My own focus is primarily on the back-end logic, where I think I can have the most general impact and jump-start development of lots of different apps. But I can't possibly write all the front-end apps myself. The number of good ideas exceeds my available time. I also have a day job and a day calling.
RossEvans
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New version compatible with MLS 3.1.0

#32

Post by RossEvans »

I have released a new version of LDSql, v 0.9.5. This release is an extensive restructuring to accommodate similar restructuring introduced by MLS v 3.1.0.

These changes had the general effect of allowing the recording of phone numbers and email addresses for individual members as well as for households. Because of the limitations of MLS exports, this also affected the logic of how members and households are linked in the home- and visiting-teaching tables.

Almost all tables and views were affected, as were all the scripts. There were new, deleted and renamed columns for individual and household phone numbers and email addresses.

Because of the extensive restructuring, this version is not backwards-compatible with earlier versions of MLS. To load data from such earlier MLS exports, use the LDSql schema and scripts from v 0.9.4.
RossEvans
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New version compatible with MLS 3.1.1

#33

Post by RossEvans »

I have released a new version of LDSql, v 0.9.6.

This version primarily makes it compatible with the MLS v 3.1.1 export format. The 3.1.1 release corrected a typo in a column name of the VisitingTeaching.csv export file in v 3.1.0, and that change broke third-party programs based on the 3.1.0 format.
RossEvans
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New version supports suppressing confidential data

#34

Post by RossEvans »

The v 0.9.9 release alters the schema and scripts to support the loading of MLS tables with certain confidential fields suppressed. This is so auxiliary leaders can use LDSql, or applications based on LDSql, without being exposed to the confidential data.

The process is driven by the loading of the data upstream. Any of the following data columns from the Membership.csv export file can be globally suppressed by some external process:

MRN
Priesthood
Married
Mission
Spouse Member
Sealed to Spouse
Sealed to Prior
Baptized
Confirmed
Endowed
Rec Exp

If LDSql detects that data for any of those columns is globally absent, it will gracefully treat all data derived from that confidential column as Nulls.

To take advantage of this feature, some script or app would need to be created to allow a clerk to sanitize the files for the auxiliary leader because MLS lacks such functionality. I may write such an app someday, but others will probably build it.
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mkmurray
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#35

Post by mkmurray »

boomerbubba wrote:The v 0.9.9 release...
So what will version 1.0.0 have in store? :D Or do version numbers have no real significance in relation to feature sets?
RossEvans
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#36

Post by RossEvans »

mkmurray wrote:So what will version 1.0.0 have in store? :D Or do version numbers have no real significance in relation to feature sets?

Well, I started out calling it 0.9.x because it was so new, sort of If It Works It's Not a Test. Now that LDSql has some real developer/users -- the open-source Ward Tools team has adopted it as the back end for a new-generation product -- I guess I should think about calling some version 1.0 soon.

The next major goal is to support stake MLS exports. That might be what it takes to claim such status in my own mind.
RossEvans
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New database loading utility available

#37

Post by RossEvans »

The open-source Ward Tools project team has now released a user-friendly loading tool for building an LDSql ward database directly from the four core MLS export CSV files. This application also provides options to suppress confidential fields from the database, and clean up the formatting of U.S. phone numbers.

While the Ward Tools retrieval apps using such a database (focusing on handheld devices) are still a work in progress, this utility can be used today by power users who want to browse or query the database on a personal computer. For these purposes, generic tools such as the Firefox SQLite Manager or OpenOffice can provide a lot of functionality without programming. For example, the database can drive mail-merge programs or perform some custom queries and reports that MLS cannot.

The free loading application -- a Windows versionand a Mac version-- are available from the Ward Tools site. For more information on using LDSql without programming, see this page at the LDSql site.
cyresjones-p40
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#38

Post by cyresjones-p40 »

The Export (MLS) article has updated details regarding the bet on export files. It calm has the same monitions that it is intimate and simply the result of analytic thinking.
techgy
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#39

Post by techgy »

cyresjones wrote:The Export (MLS) article has updated details regarding the bet on export files. It calm has the same monitions that it is intimate and simply the result of analytic thinking.
First of all, welcome to the LDS Tech Forum. We hope that your experience is helpful to you and to the forum. In that regard, may I ask you a favor? Would you please repeat your recent post and clarify what you intended to say. It's a little confusing.

Thanks and again, welcome.

Techgy
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Have you read the Code of Conduct?
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