I am trying to add a few new columns to certain tables in Joomla, since i need to migrate these fixes from dev to production i am trying to do this the clean way, updates trough the filesystem.
I have followed a few tutorials concerning this and did the following.
I created the folder updates/sql and put a new sql file in it with my new version (1.5). I changed the version number in my xml file. I refreshed my cache in the backend.
Here are the codes I used:
My version:
<version>1.5</version>
The update node:
<update>
<schemas>
<schemapath type="mysql">sql/updates/mysql</schemapath>
<schemapath type="sqlsrv">sql/updates/sqlsrv</schemapath>
<schemapath type="sqlazure">sql/updates/sqlazure</schemapath>
</schemas>
</update>
The sql file:
ALTER TABLE `#__mycomponent` ADD `field` VARCHAR(255);
I tested my query directly against the database and it worked, what am I missing?
Short answer - Joomla!'s DB migration tool only does them after uploading a new component via the Component Manager. It doesn't check for a migration on every $_REQUEST, which is what your question suggests.
Longer Answer
Make sure you run the upgrade via the component manager. Simply over-writing the files doesn't trigger Joomla's migration process. Check the #__schemas table for your component's ID, and it'll have a corresponding database schema version #. If that version hasn't incremented yet, then the migration wasn't applied.
Part of the problem is
I am trying to do this the clean way, updates trough the filesystem
While I agree with you, that would be the clean way: Joomla! wants you to do things the Joomla! way ;-)
Important Note about Joomla! SQL Files
SQL files cannot contain C style comments (# comment here), and must contain comments like this -- comment here Spent a few hours debugging my own code, and had to re-run an upgrade about 25 times to figure out where the database schema migration was failing.
Comments may support the /* Comment */ style syntax, but I have yet to test that as extensively. YMMV.