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BP Messages – Database details?

  • @criticaltodd

    Participant

    15 years, 10 months ago

    I’m working on a script to migrate a bunch of phpBB private messages to BP’s messaging system. phpBB’s table structure is pretty straightforward, but I’m having trouble figuring out all these squiggly bracket codes in wp_bp_messages_threads, such as the ones below:

    message_ids

    sender_ids

    a:3:{i:0;i:1;i:1;i:2;i:2;i:3;}

    a:2:{i:0;i:1;i:1;s:1:”2″;}

    I get that wp_bp_messages_messages contains the actual message, and that wp_bp_messages_recipients contains the recipient. So wp_bp_messages_threads must be the table that associates these two, right? Can anybody give me advice on how to code my “INSERT INTO” data for the _threads table?? Thanks!!

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

  • @apeatling

    Keymaster

    15 years, 10 months ago

    one thread has one to many messages

    one message has one to many recipients

    one user has zero to many threads

    the squiggly stuff you posted is a serialized array of message and sender ID’s. In PHP if you take that value and use the function unserialize() (or maybe_unserialize() if you are in the WordPress environment) you will get an array full of ID’s you can then iterate and use.

    @criticaltodd

    Participant

    15 years, 10 months ago

    Thanks, Andy! I went into the database and observed how these arrays morph as more posts are made. Here’s what I figured out about the serialized array in BP’s wp_bp_messages_threads table:

    First of all, the wp_bp_messages_threads table is indeed the table that associates “messages” table with “recipients” table.

    In the message_ids column:

    a:4:{i:0;i:1;i:1;i:2;i:2;i:3;i:3;i:5;}

    – a:4 means there are 4 messages in the thread

    – the i’s are the links between messages in the thread. There are 4 messages in the thread, and the thread IDs are 1, 2, 3, and 5. I’m not sure why we start with i:0 to i:1, but after that the connections are i:1 to i:2, i:2 to i:3, and i:3 to i:5.

    In the sender_ids column:

    a:2:{i:0;i:1;i:1;s:1:”2″;}

    – I guess a:2 means that the sender has 2 messages in the thread, but I don’t know why that information is useful yet. I don’t know what the i’s mean in this context. I don’t know what s means. “2” is the user_id of the sender.

    I was able to put this together and come up with a simple import script that turns phpBB message data into BP messages. It’s just a “flat” import, by which I mean that the script does not use the BP threading functionality; it just gives every message a simple “message_ids” table entry, such as a:1:{i:0;i:55;} where 55 is the id of the message, and a simple “sender_ids” entry, such as a:1:{i:0;i:3;}, where 3 is the id of the user in wp_users.

    Is somebody putting all this in the codex? I don’t feel I’m qualified enough to enter these snippets, but hopefully this type of documentation will be emerging soon.

    @criticaltodd

    Participant

    15 years, 10 months ago

    well, this import went so-so. The messages are there, but the pagination of messages is “off”. Page one has 7 messages, while page 2 has only 6 messages. Pages 3 and 4 have only 4 messages, and when I click on page 5, it says “you have no messages in your inbox.” I guess that’s what hacking gets you.

    Anybody have ideas on what to do next?

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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