1Ruby extension for GNU dbm (gdbm) -- a simple database engine for
2storing key-value pairs on disk.
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4GNU dbm is a library for simple databases. A database is a file that
5stores key-value pairs. Gdbm allows the user to store, retrieve, and
6delete data by key. It furthermore allows a non-sorted traversal of
7all key-value pairs. A gdbm database thus provides the same
8functionality as a hash. As with objects of the Hash class, elements
9can be accessed with []. Furthermore, GDBM mixes in the Enumerable
10module, thus providing convenient methods such as #find, #collect,
11#map, etc.
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13A process is allowed to open several different databases at the same
14time. A process can open a database as a "reader" or a
15"writer". Whereas a reader has only read-access to the database, a
16writer has read- and write-access. A database can be accessed either
17by any number of readers or by exactly one writer at the same time.
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