/**
* Returns a reference to the global Database object, only creating it
* if it doesn't already exist. And keeps sure that there is only one
* instace for a specific combination of the JDatabase signature
*
* @param string Database driver
* @param string Database host
* @param string Database user name
* @param string Database user password
* @param string Database name
* @param string Common prefix for all tables
* @return database A database object
* @since 1.5
*/
function &getInstance($driver = 'mysql', $host = 'localhost', $user, $pass, $db = '', $table_prefix = '')
{
$signature = serialize(array($driver, $host, $user, $pass, $db, $table_prefix));
$database = JDatabase::_getStaticInstance($signature, 'JFDatabase', true);
return $database;
}
