Better Expression Engine - the start of a class to make your life simpler when dealing with EE programmatically.

better_ee.php

<?php
	if (!class_exists('Better_EE')) {
		class Better_EE {
			public static $field_defaults = array(
				'site_id' => 1,
				'field_type' => 'text',
				'field_fmt' => 'none',
				'field_show_fmt' => 'n',
				'field_maxl' => 500,
				'field_label' => '',
				'field_settings' => array(
					'field_content_type' => 'all',
					'field_show_smileys' => 'n',
					'field_show_glossary' => 'n',
					'field_show_spellcheck' => 'n',
					'field_show_formatting_btns' => 'n',
					'field_show_file_selector' => 'n',
					'field_show_writemode' => 'n'
				)
			);
			public static $field_formatting_defaults = array('none','br','xhtml');
			
			public $ee = null;
			public $db = null;
			public function __construct($ee) {
				if (!$ee) {
					throw new EE_Exception('Instance of EE class required');
				}
				$this->ee = $ee;
				$this->db = $ee->db;
			}
			public function add_field($data = array()) {
				$errors = array();
				
				$field_formatting = self::$field_formatting_defaults;
				if (isset($data['field_formatting'])) {
					$field_formatting = (array)$data['field_formatting'];
					unset($data['field_formatting']);
				}
				$data = array_merge_recursive(self::$field_defaults, $data);
				
				// Seriously?  Base64 encoded _and_ serialized?
				$data['field_settings'] = base64_encode(serialize($data['field_settings']));
				
				foreach (array('field_name', 'group_id') as $field) {
					if (!isset($data[$field]))
						$errors[] = $field;
				}
				if (count($errors)) {
					throw new EE_Exception(join(', ', $errors) . ' not defined in $data');
				}
				
				if (!$data['field_label']) $data['field_label'] = $data['field_name'];
				
				// Check for field existence in exp_channel_fields and add if necessary
				$field_exists = $this->db->query(
					"SELECT field_id FROM exp_channel_fields WHERE 
						site_id = '{$data['site_id']}' AND group_id = '{$data['group_id']}' AND field_name = '{$data['field_name']}'"
				);
				$field_id = $field_exists->row('field_id');
				if (!$field_id) {
					if (!$this->db->query($this->db->insert_string('exp_channel_fields', $data))) {
						throw new EE_Exception('Unable to add field ' . $data['field_name'] . ' to exp_channel_fields');
					}
					$field_id = $this->db->insert_id();
				}
				
				// Check for field existence in exp_channel_data and add if necessary
				$found_field = false;
				$describe = $this->db->query(
					"DESCRIBE exp_channel_data"
				);
				if ($describe->num_rows() > 0) {
					foreach ($describe->result_array() as $row) {
						if (('field_id_' . $field_id) == $row['Field']) {
							$found_field = true; break;
						}
					}
				}
				
				if (!$found_field) {
					if (!$this->db->query("ALTER TABLE exp_channel_data ADD COLUMN field_id_{$field_id} TEXT, ADD COLUMN field_ft_{$field_id} TINYTEXT")) {
						throw new EE_Exception('Unable to modify exp_channel_data to add field ' . $data['field_name'] . ' with field_id of ' . $field_id);
					}
				}
				
				$field_exists = $this->db->query(
					"SELECT field_id FROM exp_field_formatting WHERE field_id = {$field_id}"
				);
				if (!$field_exists->row('field_id')) {
					foreach ($field_formatting as $format) {
						$format_data = array('field_id' => $field_id, 'field_fmt' => $format);
						$this->db->query($this->db->insert_string('exp_field_formatting', $format_data));
					}
				}
			} // add_field
			
			public function delete_field($field_id) {
				if (!is_numeric($field_id))
					return false;
				$this->db->query("DELETE FROM exp_channel_fields WHERE field_id = '{$field_id}'");
				$this->db->query("DELETE FROM exp_field_formatting WHERE field_id = '{$field_id}'");
				$this->db->query("ALTER TABLE exp_channel_data DROP COLUMN field_id_{$field_id}, DROP COLUMN field_ft_{$field_id}");
				return true;
			} // delete_field
		}
		class EE_Exception extends Exception {}
	}