Improving the Data Module [#975950]

With the deprecation of the Table Wizard Module, the Data Module is now the primary module for use in exposing external tables to Drupal going forward. Unfortunately, I have concerns about the Data module which - if I may - stem from the lack of documentation and the poor issue-response statistics. This is not meant as a shot at the module developers (who I'm thankful to for building the module in the first place) but these two items create a formidable barrier to bringing in new users which are the lifeblood of a module.

I'm raising this issue in the hopes that we can identify steps that will make the Data Module more accessible to new and current users. I, for one, am willing to contribute (more) documentation; especially, if I know I will receive feedback and that the documentation will become part of the module proper. I am also willing to test and edit documentation submissions from others (with the aforementioned qualifications.)

Thoughts from others? What have your experiences with the Data Module been like? Do you have documentation laying around that you would clean-up and submit as patches? What would you like to see done?

Comments

Comment #1

azuledu CreditAttribution: azuledu commented 23 November 2010 at 23:32

I really would like to be able to expose external database tables as Views. It was possible with TW and it would be good to rescue it in Data Module.

Comment #2

fletch11 CreditAttribution: fletch11 commented 3 February 2011 at 01:11

I've found the general lack of documentation and support is really holding this project back. With a little more documentation - particularly surrounding views integration - I think this module could really revolutionize the way drupal users are capable of handling open data. However, it seems that for now the only users really capable of unlocking its potential are those developing it and a few other 'super-users'. With a little more help I think a lot of users could develop documentation and use-cases.

Thanks for the great module though.

Comment #3

jvdurme CreditAttribution: jvdurme commented 9 February 2011 at 14:41

A friend of mine has used Data to make nice views of tables from external databases (even putting data from multiple external tables in the same View). I have to do this too now, but even though I have the code, I cannot seem to get it. Lack of documentation is holding me back.
There are many users here asking the same question: "How to put data from external databases in Views using Data". Yet not a clear answer was given. I simply do not know how to use the module.

Comment #4

ongdesign CreditAttribution: ongdesign commented 3 June 2011 at 18:26

I've just started using the Data module (to expose data from custom tables to Views), and so far I am really impressed with it. I was a little put off by the lack of documentation; but it's been an absolute lifesaver for what I needed it for.

My use case is that I've got users following links to a different site, passing their uid as an argument to that server, then I've got a module running some simple Web services calls to retrieve data from that site and stuff the results into a new table on the Drupal db. I need to report on user behavior from that site, so I used Data module to adopt that new table, then joined uid from the new table to user->uid. This lets me add a relationship to User ID in my report View, and bring in all the information I need.

I'm not an advanced PHP guy, and the prospect of creating new Views handlers was not appealing to me... Data module effectively grants me that same capability with much less coding required.

Comment #5

msimanga CreditAttribution: msimanga commented 7 June 2011 at 19:12

This module should have a higher profile in the Drupalsphere. I too use it to display data from external sources using Views. I create relationships to vocabularies which makes creating exposed filters much more customisable. I am also able to utilise the charting modules to create charts. I am an SQL man but have been toying with learning PHP to contribute to some modules. It there is one module I would be happy to contribute to, it is this module. Just wanted to say it is a great module once you figure it out, a must for Drupal 7.