[development] Active databases and development/test/production environment

[J-P Stacey]

Hi Earnie,

> I hope and have assumed you're aware of the multi-sites features for 
> version 5?

Yes, but it doesn't really solve the problem if we have several copies of a 
client's site on the same server with each developer working on a copy:

	sites/jp.client.example.com
	sites/fred.client.example.com

Because both are subversion'ed, both settings.php will be the same; both 
will therefore access the same database without some sort of hack, and Fred 
might find his development stymied by my db changes.

If Fred changes his settings.php to point to the database 
db_drupal_client_fred, then he's in danger of checking that in and (a) me 
getting the same change when I grab any updates from the repository or (b) 
worse, that change hitting the live site, which immediately keels over.

Everything ought to go through a test site, of course, but this becomes a 
potential point of failure if urgent work is needed and the test site is 
underused.

Cheers,
J-P
-- 
J-P Stacey
+44 (0)1608 811870
http://torchbox.com