BatCave: Database Installation

Installing the BatCave SQL Tables

There are two primary databases that are used in the BatCave. One database collects the real-time data from the Alfred and alfserver processes. A second database contains the SQL queries to access this data and HTML templates to display the data.

Installing the Batcave tables on a MySQL server

NOTE: A basic understanding of MySQL database administration is expected to be able to set up the BatCave. Information on database administration can be found online at the MySQL website: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/mysql-database-administration.html.

It is assumed that you have already chosen a database server, and have installed MySQL server. The BatCave should work with any MySQL version from 4.1 on, but has been tested more extensively with MySQL version 4.1.7.

Create a database on your server for the real-time data. The database name can be of your choosing, but the default BatCave scripts use the database: alfsqldatabase.
Create a user which has general access, including create, read, write and update access to this database. The user name may be of your choosing, but the default scripts use the name: alfsqluser.
Create the real-time BatCave data tables
- Locate the directory $RATTREE/admin/sql_scripts
  (%RATTREE%\admin\sql_scripts on Windows platforms).
  Locate the script titled createtables.sql
- Using the interactive mysql program, source the script above into your database.
  For example:
  mysql -u alfsqluser alfsqldatabase < createtables.sql
(Optional) — Create a database to hold the HTML Templates and SQL queries used in the BatCave. This database may reside on a different MySQL server, if desired.
NOTE: The database which contains the Templates and Queries tables MAY be the same database which the active Alfred data is collected. However, placing these tables in a separate database may reduce traffic slightly. Because the BatCave software treats this as two separate database connections, this allows you the freedom to install the Templates and Queries in a different database, which can be used for editing new templates, prior putting them into production.
Create the Templates and Queries tables
- In the sql_scripts directory above, locate the script createtemplates.sql
- Source the createtemplates.sql script into your templates/queries database
  For example:
  mysql -u alfsqluser alfsqldatabase < createtemplates.sql

Installing the Batcave tables on a PostgreSQL server

NOTE: A basic understanding of PostgreSQL database administration is expected to be able to set up the BatCave. Information on database administration can be found online at the PostgreSQL website: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/7.4/interactive/admin.html.

It is assumed that you have already chosen a database server, and have installed PostgreSQL server. The BatCave should work with any PostgreSQL version from 7.4 on, but has been tested more extensively with version 7.4.12.

Create a database on your server for the real-time data. The database name can be of your choosing, but the default BatCave scripts use the database: alfsqldatabase.
Create a user which has general access, including create, read, write and update access to this database. The user name may be of your choosing, but the default scripts use the name: alfsqluser.
Create the real-time BatCave data tables
- Locate the directory $RATTREE/admin/sql_scripts
  (%RATTREE%\admin\sql_scripts on Windows platforms).
  Locate the script titled createtables.psql
- Using the interactive mysql program, source the script above into your database.
  For example:
  psql -U alfsqluser alfsqldatabase < createtables.psql
(Optional) — Create a database to hold the HTML Templates and SQL queries used in the BatCave. This database may reside on a different PostgreSQL server, if desired.
NOTE: The database which contains the Templates and Queries tables MAY be the same database which the active Alfred data is collected. However, placing these tables in a separate database may reduce traffic slightly. Because the BatCave software treats this as two separate database connections, this allows you the freedom to install the Templates and Queries in a different database, which can be used for editing new templates, prior putting them into production.
Create the Templates and Queries tables
- In the sql_scripts directory above, locate the script createtemplates.psql
- Source the createtemplates.psql script into your templates/queries database
  For example:
  psql -U alfsqluser alfsqldatabase < createtemplates.psql