public function dbshard($shard_name)
    {
        if (empty($shard_name) || empty($this->shard_table[$shard_name])) {
            throw new \Exception("The shard '$shard_name' was not found!");
            return null;
        }
        
        if (empty($this->shard_table[$shard_name]["dbworker"])) {
            $this->shard_table[$shard_name]["dbworker"] = dbworker($this->shard_table[$shard_name]["parameters"], true);
        }
        
        return $this->shard_table[$shard_name]["dbworker"];
    }