Introduction

Minutus is a framework for web database applications.  It is intended as a quick way to create a useful database application for relatively simple data models.

To use Minutus, you create a Python module defining an Appdef object.  This object is a description of the data objects in your application, relationships between those data objects, and the pages you want in your application's user interface.  You can use predefined pages for viewing single or multiple objects, or define your own pages using Cheetah templates.

The data model for a Minutus application is more restrictive than general SQL.  (Minutus is really an object database with a relational storage back-end.)  The data model is conceptualized as RDF statements, each with a subject, verb, and object.


Some features of Minutus are:

• Accepts data updates in the format of HTTP form results.  These can be either from a real HTTP form or can be synthesized as desired.
• Stores change histories for all objects, as RDF statements stored in N3 notation.
• Efficient execution of applications, through techniques such as caching and progressive streaming of results.

The current version is an early alpha release with some significant limitations.  There are no firm plans for when these limitations might be fixed

• Relation model is too primitive... relations need to be able to have arbitrary parameters ... right now there is just 1 parameter named "comment".
  

• Needs a better pass-through mode for executing arbitrary SQL statements.
  

Requirements

Minutus is built on the following required components:

• Python
• Apache
• mod_python
• Cheetah
• SQLite
  

Installation

this section is not written yet.

Components of a Minutus Application

this section is not written yet.