Ingres "code sprint" yields new features

Ahead of the UK Ingres Users Association conference, Ingres held a two day code sprint last week to bring together customers and Ingres engineers to develop new features for the Ingres database. The results of the work on the Sunday and Monday appear to be impressive.

Among the new features created at the event were a compressed backup option to save space when archiving databases, an enforced logging system for databases and the ability to suspend logging when copying a database, a command line history for the Ingres SQL utility and improved Soundex routines for better matching. Emma McGratten of Ingres, who organised the sprint said "It's a testament to the open source community when we can get together and make improvements on features and programs that are being used every day, by the people who depend on them".

The new features will now be subjected to a design and code review before being incorporated into the Ingres database code, a process which will take place in public on the Ingres Community web site.

Teams with members from EDS, AAH Pharmaceuticals, Bording Data and Oxford University participated in the coding and development, with Ingres engineers providing assistance. Martin Browes, database administrator at Oxford University and open source coordinator for the UK Ingres Users Association said "The features that have come out of this year's event, such as the ability to call out to the operating system from the SQL terminal monitor and the new Soundex routine, illustrate what can be done when the community shares ideas."

Other projects at the code sprint included creating an Amazon EC2 image which combined Ingres and the Drupal content management system into a ready-to-run-in-the-cloud publishing system. The next code sprint is scheduled for June 2010.

(djwm)