Access to Nucleus tables

Up to v2.0, accessing the nucleus tables was just a matter of performing an SQL query on one of the nucleus_ tables. Since it is possible to use a custom table name in Nucleus versions >2.0, some precautions are needed in plugin development:

1. Instead of using a fixed tablename like nucleus_item, use the global function sql_table('item') to generate the prefixed tablename
2. Make sure your plugin returns 1 (true) when supportsFeature('SqlTablePrefix') is called on it. If it doesn't, you won't be able to load the plugin on Nucleus versions > 2.0 when a custom prefix has been set (as a precaution)

Note that the sql_table global function in not available in Nucleus versions up to v2.0. If you use this method and want your plugin to work on Nucleus versions <= 2.0, add the following snippet of code on top of your plugin class:

<?php

// plugin needs to work on Nucleus versions <=2.0 as well
if (!function_exists('sql_table'))
{
	function sql_table($name) {
		return 'nucleus_' . $name;
	}
}

class NP_HelloWorld extends NucleusPlugin {
...
}

?>

Your own tables

If your plugin needs database tables of it's own, you should create then in the install method and remove them in the unInstall method.

Some pointers

• Consider using a table name like nucleus_plug_plugname to avoid conflicts with other plugins. Generate them through sql_table('plug_plugname') to make it work with custom prefixes
• You don't need to make a database connection yourself. You can execute queries using the PHP command mysql_query()
• If you do make a database connection yourself, make sure to restore the connection with the Nucleus database afterwards. You can do this by calling sql_connect() at the end of your function. It might also be good to do this from the constructor, to avoid reconnecting constantly. You could then save your link identifier in $this->db and pass that along with every query.
• Also redefine the getTableList() method to make sure your table gets backupped when using the backup function.