Database versioning

General

This page is a stump and tries to explain how to raise the DBVersion number and where to make changes in the source code. These instructions apply to v 2.0 or later.

You will typically need this if you are a LimeSurvey developer and want to introduce changes to the database. Please note: Do not introduce database changes on a stable version.

Steps to add a new DB version\changes to the existing database

• Open \application\config\version.php and raise the $dbversion variable by one. For example if the current DBversion is 180 make it 181.
• Open each file in \installer\sql and add the necessary changes. Make sure the changes are consistent across all three files. Pay attention to the database specific field types (check out other tables for comparison/examples). Important: If you need to use field type 'text' then make it 'varchar(max)' in MSSQL.
• In each file in \installer\sql edit the last SQL statement in each to reflect the new dbversion number.
• Open \application\helpers\update\updatedb_helper and in the end of the function db_upgrade_all() add a new conditional code block that does the necessary updates to the database scheme of the previous version. If you are using the proper functions the changes will be cross-DB compatible - check out how it is done in previous conditional blocks.