Gadfly (database)

Gadfly (database)

Gadfly is a relational database management system written in Python. Gadfly is a collection of Python modules that provides relational database functionality entirely implemented in Python. It supports a subset of the standard RDBMS Structured Query Language (SQL).

Gadfly runs wherever Python runs and supports client/server on any platform that supports the standard Python socket interface. The file formats used by Gadfly for storage are cross-platform—a gadfly database directory can be moved from Win95 to Linux using a binary copying mechanism and gadfly will read and run the database.

It supports persistent databases consisting of a collection of structured tables with indices, and a large subset of SQL for accessing and modifying those tables. It supports a log based recovery protocol which allows committed operations of a database to be recovered even if the database was not shut down in a proper manner (i.e., in the event of a CPU or software crash, ). It also supports a TCP/IP Client/Server mode where remote clients can access a Gadfly database over a TCP/IP network (such as the Internet) subject to configurable security mechanisms.

Since Gadfly depends intimately on the kwParsing package it is distributed as part of the kwParsing package, under the same copyright.

Gadfly allows Python programs to store, retrieve and query tabular data without having to rely on any external database engine or package. It provides an in-memory relational database style engine for Python programs, complete with a notion of a "committed, recoverable transaction" and "aborts".