db abstraction: pass by reference versus return

Hi, I think PEAR DB is also pretty consistent with always returning any data directly versus storing data in variables that are passed by reference. Metabase mostly does passing by reference and so MDB ATM is a bit of a mix: 1) The question is about if methods should always either return DB_OK or an error object and any return data should be placed into a var that is passed by reference. 2) Alternatively the method can either return the data or an error object. ("the PEAR DB way"). 3) Finally we can have a mix. If this is the option then we need to decide what methods should work which way ("the Metabase way"). I think this is a major useability question so I just wanted to ensure that this is done the way people really want it to be. Somehow 1) seems like the comp sci way of doing things as it just feels cleaner to me. :-) The advantage of getting DB_OK on ok is that I could actually check for this instead of the more costly isError(). On the other hand some methods (such as type conversion and maybe also sequences) will be a bit cumbersome to use if the var is passed by reference, because then I cant write it directly into a query ('Select * from foo WHERE bar = '.$mdb->getTextValue($bar)) So I am not sure if 1) is really the way to go. Leaving 2) and 3) - with 3) requiring a decision on what methods should behave in what way. Best regards, Lukas Smith smith@dybnet.de _______________________________ DybNet Internet Solutions GbR Reuchlinstr. 10-11 Gebäude 4 1.OG Raum 6 (4.1.6) 10553 Berlin Germany Tel. : +49 30 83 22 50 00 Fax : +49 30 83 22 50 07 www.dybnet.de info@dybnet.de