Posted by Andy Hassall on 12/31/06 16:36

On Sun, 31 Dec 2006 10:24:37 -0500, bill <nobody@spamcop.net> wrote:

>Jerry Stuckle wrote:
>...
>> The point is - this is not a mysql newsgroup. You should take your
>> questions to the appropriate newsgroup. That's why comp.databases.mysql
>> was created.
>>
>> And I would suggest you ask your isp again. It might have gotten lost
>> during the holidays.
>
>Please allow me to cordially disagree with you.
>Having been to the mysql reference website I find that while the
>information is there, it is almost all oriented towards command
>line usage, not from within PHP.

The questions you've asked have both been about SQL which MySQL runs, not PHP.
Since the answer is the same whether you send the SQL from a command line or
from any other language then they aren't really on topic here in a PHP group.

This was one reason why comp.databases.mysql was created; here is a quote from
the original rationale when the group was proposed:

"There is no dedicated newsgroup for MySQL in the comp.* hierarchy and, as a
result, most of the discussions of MySQL take place in the comp.lang.php
newsgroup. This is unsatisfactory because MySQL is not in any intrinsic way
related to the PHP language, and users of MySQL who do not use it in
conjunction with PHP front ends are unlikely to know to look for discussions
of MySQL there. In addition, discussion of issues related to MySQL but not
to PHP are off-topic for comp.lang.php. A new group specifically for MySQL
would offer a place where all users of MySQL could participate without
risking being off-topic for the group and where all users of MySQL could
easily discover the group."

The charter for comp.lang.php contains:

"A group alt.php.sql also currently exists, but is less frequently used than
alt.php. Since database connectivity is a large part of PHP, it will be
considered topical in comp.lang.php. A comp.lang.php.sql is not deemed
necessary at the current point in time, however may be proposed at a later
point should the need arise. "

... but it only mentions database _connectivity_, so that's questions on how
to get connected to the database, including setting up the extensions, and how
to use the PHP side of the APIs to get your data in and out of PHP data
structures - but that doesn't cover how to use the database you're connected
to.

Since comp.databases.mysql is in one of the "Big-8" hierarchies (the older,
more official ones as opposed to the alt.* groups) then your ISP really should
add it, arguably it should have done it automatically ages ago. ISPs are
generally pretty useless though when it comes to Usenet. news.individual.net is
a cheap way of getting access to a good Usenet server if your ISP isn't up to
the job.

--
Andy Hassall :: andy@andyh.co.uk :: http://www.andyh.co.uk
http://www.andyhsoftware.co.uk/space :: disk and FTP usage analysis tool

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