http://www.wpdfd.com/forums/wpdfd/scripting/creating_a_database/ A Scripting forum thread at WPDFD.com en-us 07/06/04, 188 09 2004 2004:%i:1089130145 12:09:05 06/07/13, 158 34 2013 2013:%i:1370594057 04:34:17 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss NineLabs Framework Feed Generator sitemaster@wpdfd.com sitemaster@wpdfd.com http://www.wpdfd.com/forums/wpdfd/scripting/creating_a_database/#p1066
Im new to web design, and new to this board, so please don't laugh at me if I sound stupid!  

I'm working on a web site at the moment and had an idea. I have a database (Microsoft Access) that contains various tables of information. I was wondering if its possible to allow users of my website to search this database.

I would want them to be able to search the whole database for a piece of information, and for the database to display a 'report' of the corresponding information that it has found.

Is this kind of thing possible? If so, what technolgy does it require?

Thanks for your help!

Dave]]> 07/06/04, 188 09 2004 2004:%i:1089130145 12:09:05 http://www.wpdfd.com/forums/wpdfd/scripting/creating_a_database/#p1066 http://www.wpdfd.com/forums/wpdfd/scripting/creating_a_database/#p1067 07/06/04, 188 20 2004 2004:%i:1089141633 15:20:33 http://www.wpdfd.com/forums/wpdfd/scripting/creating_a_database/#p1067 http://www.wpdfd.com/forums/wpdfd/scripting/creating_a_database/#p1068
How do you create an SQL database?

Dave]]> 07/06/04, 188 42 2004 2004:%i:1089142935 15:42:15 http://www.wpdfd.com/forums/wpdfd/scripting/creating_a_database/#p1068 http://www.wpdfd.com/forums/wpdfd/scripting/creating_a_database/#p1069
Connecting to an Access database isn't any problem. Use PHP - you can learn more about it at www.php.net

Along with PHP, you need to learn some SQL statements, which instruct the database what to extract or insert, etc. You can get a SQL primer at www.w3schools.com

You also use a SQL statement to create a mySQL database. Or, if your hosting service has a mySQL feature, you can probably go to the online control panel to configure it.]]> 07/06/04, 188 41 2004 2004:%i:1089146513 16:41:53 http://www.wpdfd.com/forums/wpdfd/scripting/creating_a_database/#p1069 http://www.wpdfd.com/forums/wpdfd/scripting/creating_a_database/#p1070
Which method is better for maintenance? Ive got to add items to the database every so often. And which it the quickest and/or easiest method?

Thanks for yoiur help

Dave]]> 07/06/04, 188 46 2004 2004:%i:1089146778 16:46:18 http://www.wpdfd.com/forums/wpdfd/scripting/creating_a_database/#p1070 http://www.wpdfd.com/forums/wpdfd/scripting/creating_a_database/#p1071
Access is indeed a less than ideal choice for a high-volume website, however at least for testing purposes it should be fine and save you some cost/complexity.

PHP is a great language for web based applications however if you are looking for something simple and you already have a working Access database, there are tools in Access itself for building Active Server Pages which will quickly give you the ability to use your Access database over the web.

The biggest consideration in all of this is what you will be using for a webserver.  If your server doesn't support the tool you select, be it ASP, PHP, perl, etc. you will be out of luck.

Assuming that you can host this on something that will run ASP, you might want to use the stuff built into Access to get your prototype up and running.  If you have scalability issues (the best problem we can hope for right?) then it is simple enough to "upsize" the Access database to something like Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL or MySQL; again all depending on what your server can do.

Hope this helps.]]> 07/26/04, 208 48 2004 2004:%i:1090874938 16:48:58 http://www.wpdfd.com/forums/wpdfd/scripting/creating_a_database/#p1071