Portofino 4 - framework using Liquibase

Hi everyone,

my name is Alessio Stalla, I work for ManyDesigns s.r.l. and I am a member of the local Java User Group in my city, Genova (Italy).

My company has been developing a new version of our open source, high level model-driven framework to build database-backed Java web applications, called ManyDesigns Portofino, which is going to be released to the public soon. This brand new 4.x version uses Liquibase to get a snapshot of the database schema(s) you are connecting to, in order to initially create a model reflecting the database, or to update an existing model with changes from the database. A model builds upon the physical structure of one or more db schemas, adding logical annotations and other high-level properties.
Additionally, Liquibase is exposed to users that want to track changes to their DB with it. Every time Portofino starts and when instructed to do so, it executes a Liquibase changelog file against the database.

We used Liquibase by leveraging its API rather than accessing it from the command line like the majority of users. We also wrote a few of our own database abstractions on top of the built-in ones. I think we can be considered advanced users :slight_smile:

We believe that both us and the Liquibase community can benefit from mutual cooperation. We would like to offer Liquibase users the opportunity to download a preview of our framework, to gather impressions and ideas for improvements, as well as criticism. We have set up a page on our site for that purpose: <http://www.manydesigns.com/en/portofino/portofino4>. If you’re interested, give it a shot and have fun!

Alessio