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This week I've done some work on the core $cache API (WireCache) to make it able to support other cache storage options. To do that, I had to move all the storage code out of the WireCache class and into a separate class that implements the new WireCacheInterface. So it was kind of a major refactor. Now the WireCache class is independent of storage method, which will make it more flexible in the long term. The first class that implements the new interface is the new WireCacheDatabase. This contains the cache database-storage code that was previously in the WireCache class. But the plan is to also add a WireCacheFilesystem (in progress), and make it possible for others to develop WireCache modules, perhaps for Redis, Memcache, etc. I've been wanting to do this because in some cases I've noticed significantly better read performance from file-based caches. (Though admittedly, at the expense of write performance.) But it made me think it would just be better to have more cache storage options, and also be nice to take advantage of even better cache options available in different environments, like in the AWS environment we run this site on. One of the issues with changing the cache used by the system is that the $modules API (Modules class) depends on WireCache for quite a few things. And the modules basically can't load without the relevant caches being available. At present, $cache has to load before $modules, which makes the whole idea of WireCache-modules a bit of a chicken-or-egg first situation. So I've been working to decouple $modules from WireCache, or at least make it able to function if its cache isn't available on occasion. I made some good progress there, but found that there was a little bit of a performance hit in doing so, so I reverted those changes and put them behind a toggle in the Modules class to experiment with further. But while doing that, I found some other ways to improve the performance of the modules loader. So you'll find the dev branch boots a little faster this week. Maybe not noticeably so (since PW already boots fast), but measurably so. I'm always looking for opportunities to improve performance — even small performance improvements amount to large savings over time. While on the topic of caches, I've also added an experimental $pages->loader()->findCache($selector) method which works exactly like $pages->find($selector) method, except that it caches the page IDs that were found for a period of time that you specify in the 2nd argument (default is 60 seconds). I imagine this method would be useful for complicated or slow page finding operations that don't need to restart from scratch on every request. This is an alternative to markup caching for greater control. But since it caches the result of the find operation (page IDs), and not the actual pages, it has a different set of benefits (and drawbacks) relative to markup caches. I'm still experimenting with this method to get more feedback and make sure it's worthwhile, so far it appears to be. This will likely become accessible at $pages->findCache() once out of the experimental stage. That's all for this week. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Just wanted to say that this is indeed a very nice update! For an ongoing project I'm relying heavily on WireCache for caching due to the nature of the site: most users are logged in and there is a ton of traffic at very specific times. Keen to implement any performance enhancements, and Redis has been on the top of my list. Definitely interested in using (or developing, if need be) a Redis WireCache module. Sure, we have CacheRedis already, but a drop-in solution would be even better. (... not to mention that core support for drop-in caching modules is one instance where WP has been ahead of PW. Not that it matters all that much, but still happy to be able to tick that box ?)

Those are awesome news for us! We've had a long standing problem with moving ProcessWire installations from one server to another concerning the caches table. It would be great to completely decouple the modules cache from the user generated cache. Maybe move the modules cache to a separate db table. It seems intuitive (and most administrators seem to take this as granted) that you can simply purge the caches table to reduce the database dump size. But it is not like that ATM. Just had this problem yesterday with an experienced ops engineer, who doesn't have any PW experience... so your are magically right on time @ryan, as multiple times before!

If the head of the "Landeskulturamt" is related to someone who is related to someone a.s.o., the mandatory selection process sometimes is just pro forma ?. As always, it is just a bit annoying to notice that after putting much time and effort in. But some of my research for this project will become handy in scheduled projects ?.

ConnectPageFields Allows the connecting of two related Page fields so that changing one updates the other. Purpose of module An example: suppose your website is about movies. You have a template "movie" with Page field "actors". For each movie you add the actors that appear in the movie. All good, but what if you want to find results like... the 10 actors who have appeared in the most movies actors who haven't appeared in any movies since 1990 You cannot retrieve these pages with a single efficient $pages->find() query, and must load a large PageArray into memory in order to iterate or filter it. For the sake of making these types of queries more efficient you could structure your templates/fields so that movies are added to actors instead, but this may be a less comfortable workflow and can run into equivalent problems (e.g. "find the 10 movies with the largest cast"). The solution is to have a two-way relationship so that movie pages have an "actors" Page field and actor pages have a "movies" Page field. This module will keep these two Page fields in sync so that adding "Ryan Gosling" to "Drive" automatically adds "Drive" to "Ryan Gosling". Also, you can select the same Page field in both Page field A and Page field B. For example, create a "Related" Page field for related pages. Choose "Related" for both fields in a pair in the module config. Now when you add "Orange buffoon" to Related for "Donald Trump", "Donald Trump" is automatically added to Related for "Orange buffoon". Usage Install the ConnectPageFields module. If you haven't already done so, create the two Page fields you want to connect and add them to templates. In the module config select the two Page fields in a "Connected field pair" row as Page field A and Page field B. You can add rows as needed using the "Add another row" button. Troubleshooting Make sure you have set the "Selectable Pages" settings for each Page field correctly: The settings for Page field A should allow pages using the template(s) that Page field B has been added to. The settings for Page field B should allow pages using the template(s) that Page field A has been added to. http://modules.processwire.com/modules/connect-page-fields/ https://github.com/Toutouwai/ConnectPageFields Module config: Demo showing how changing one Page field updates the other:

I have already tried that. Made no difference. But, meanwhile I think I have found the solution. Adding to the mysqld config skip-log-bin transaction_write_set_extraction=OFF the performance is back to normal levels. It disables binary logging; since this is a standalone (non-replicated) server, this should be harmless (I think).

Version 2.1.38: This version now supports HTML5 validation for the 4 new validators added in 2.1.37 by using Javascript. It works by adding min and/or max attribute on the fly to the appropriate input field, if a value has been changed inside the reference field. Please read the full changelog here for more detailed information.

Great stuff, @ryan! Would you mind sharing how you measure those performance related things and maybe more importantly how you classify these results. I mean ... I guess you use ProfilerPro for the measuring, but what if, let's say a module that I'm developing adds 3ms penalty due to whatever. Is that what you'd call "a little bit of a performance hit" or would that mean 10ms or maybe 100?

Just for the ones who has this on their list,- sadly the client chooses some other agency to build this. The way the decisions was communicated and for what reason was a bit odd. But not uncommon when dealing with public institutions, i am afraid.

@teppoThanks, you nailed it! ?

Hello @Juergen Thank You. I am amazed at the speed with which you implement what you have in mind.

Hello @Andy Please update to FrontendForms 2.1.37 I have added 4 new validation rules for dates: dateBeforeField validator: Checks if a date is before a date entered in another field inside the form dateAfterField validator: Checks if a date is after a date entered in another field inside the form dateWithinDaysRange validator: Checks if a date is within a given time range in days depending on a date entered inside another field inside the form. Fe date must be in a time range of 7 days in the future starting from a date entered inside another form field. Example of time range: start date: 2023-05-15, timerange: 2023-05-15 - 2023-05-22. Value must be inside this time range. Supports a positive (future) and negative (past) days value. dateOutsideOfDaysRange validator: Checks if a date is outside a given time range in days depending on a date entered inside another field inside the form. Fe date must after the end of a time range of 7 days starting from a date entered inside another form field. Example of time range: start date: 2023-05-15, forbidden timerange: 2023-05-15 - 2023-05-22. Value must be outside this time range -> after 2023-05-22. Supports a positive (future) and negative (past) days value. You will find the explanations on how to use here: https://github.com/juergenweb/FrontendForms/tree/main#datebeforefield The complete examples on how to use them on inputfields can be found inside the examples folder: https://github.com/juergenweb/FrontendForms/blob/main/Examples/field-validation.php#L221 This is full PHP validation - no JS or JQuery. Just to mention: HTML 5 validation does not work for these validation rules. HTML5 validation have to implemented via JS - maybe I will add this in the future, but not for now. Just take a look if this solves your problem. Best regards