# dbpool module

## Synopsis

The `dbpool` module is a wrapper for Python DB-API 2.0-compliant database modules to (a) keep a pool of physical connections available and (b) upgrade the modules to `threadsafety` level `2`, which means that threads can share logical database connections.

## Usage

The module provides only one function not described by the DB-API 2.0 spec. The module is initialized by calling `set_database` with a reference to the underlying database module to be used and the number of physical database connections to keep in the pool. The `dbpool` module is then configured to act precisely like the underlying database module, except that physical database connections are not always closed when you have finished with them, and if you try to create more than one cursor on a single logical connection, a new physical connection is created for the new cursor.

When a logical database connection is no longer being used (i.e. you call the `close` function or all references to the connection are deleted), the physical connection is returned to the pool to be used the next time a connection is requested. If the pool is full (i.e. the limit set in the call to `set_database` is reached) then the phsyical database connection is closed.

Note that your code can either create one logical database connection, and then create many cursors from that, or create many logical database connections, and create one or more cursors from each of these. Either way the behaviour of the `dbpool` module will be the same - it will pool phsyical database connections, and only create one cursor per physical database connection.

Example:

`import jon.dbpool as dbpool
import MySQLdb, MySQLdb.cursors
dbpool.set_database(MySQLdb, 5)
dbh = dbpool.connect(user="example", passwd="s3cr3t", db="example",
cursorclass=MySQLdb.cursors.DictCursor)
dbc1 = dbh.cursor()
dbc2 = dbh.cursor()`

Note that unfortunately, due to the way the DB-API works, once you have configured `dbpool` to act as a wrapper for a database module, you cannot re-configure with a different module.

## Globals

### Variables

#### `apilevel`

The string `2.0`, indicating the DB-API level.

#### `threadsafety`

The integer `2`, meaning that threads may shared the module, and database connections.

#### `paramstyle`

This variable is only available after `set_database` has been called. It will contain the value from the underlying database module.

#### `Warning`

#### `Error`

#### `InterfaceError`

#### `DatabaseError`

#### `DataError`

#### `OperationalError`

#### `IntegrityError`

#### `InternalError`

#### `ProgrammingError`

#### `NotSupportedError`

These exception classes are only available after `set_database` has been called. They are copied from the underlying database module.

### Functions

#### `set_database(dbmod, minconns)`

`dbmod`: module
`minconns`: integer

Configures the `dbpool` module to act as a wrapper around the specified DB-API module. `dbmod` is a reference to the database module to use. `minconns` is an integer, which must be 1 or greater, which indicates the number of physical database connections of each 'type' to keep in the pool. Physical database connections are of the same 'type' if all the parameters to the DB-API `connect` function are the same (i.e. they are connecting to the same database, on the same host, with the same username, with the same options).

The database module to be used must have a `threadsafety` level of at least `1`, i.e. if the database cannot cope at all with multi-threading then there is nothing `dbpool` can do to make it work.

Note that you can only call this function once.

Example:

`set_database(MySQLdb, 5)`

#### `connect(...)`

`Returns`: database connection instance

This function may only be used after `set_database` has been called. The parameters are dependent on the underlying database module being used. A logical database connection from the pool corresponding to database connections with the parameters given is returned. If the pool is empty then a new physical connection is created.

Example:

`dbh = dbpool.connect(user="example", passwd="s3cr3t", db="example")
dbc = dbh.cursor()`

$Id: dbpool.html,v 1.2 2003/08/26 16:51:39 jribbens Exp $