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Introduction
Claes Wikström, Hans Nilsson and Håkan Mattsson
Bjarne Däcker
Bjarne Däcker
Bjarne Däcker
C
Mnesia_chap1.xml
The Mnesia application provides a heavy duty real-time
distributed database.
Scope
This User's Guide describes how to
build Mnesia database applications, and how to integrate
and use the Mnesia database management system with
OTP. Programming constructs are described, and numerous
programming examples are included to illustrate the use of
Mnesia.
This User's Guide is organized as follows:
- Mnesia
provides an introduction to
Mnesia.
- Getting Started
introduces Mnesia with an example database. Examples
are included how to start an Erlang session, specify a
Mnesia database directory, initialize a database
schema, start Mnesia, and create tables. Initial
prototyping of record definitions is also discussed.
- Build a Mnesia
Database more formally describes the steps
introduced in the previous section, namely the Mnesia
functions that define a database schema, start Mnesia,
and create the required tables.
- Transactions and Other Access Contexts
describes the transactions properties that make Mnesia into
a fault tolerant, real-time distributed database management
system. This section also describes the concept of locking
to ensure consistency in tables, and "dirty
operations", or short cuts, which bypass the transaction system
to improve speed and reduce overheads.
- Miscellaneous Mnesia
Features describes features that enable the
construction of more complex database applications. These
features include indexing, checkpoints, distribution and fault
tolerance, disc-less nodes, replication manipulation, local
content tables, concurrency, and object-based programming in
Mnesia.
- Mnesia System
Information describes the files contained in the
Mnesia database directory, database configuration data,
core and table dumps, as well as the important subject of
backup, fall-back, and disaster recovery principles.
- Combine Mnesia with
SNMP is a short section that outlines Mnesia
integrated with SNMP.
- Appendix A: Backup
Callback Interface is a program listing of the
default implementation of this facility.
- Appendix B: Activity
Access Callback Interface is a program outlining
one possible implementation of this facility.
- Appendix C: Fragmented
Table Hashing Callback Interface is a program
outlining one possible implementation of this facility.
Prerequisites
It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the Erlang
programming language, system development principles, and
database management systems.