database

database help for newbie

[soldbychris]

I was able to set up a database on my site and create a form to input data. my problem is how can i publish this information in a page and can I modify this from a page.

Thanks Chris

[coopster]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld, soldbychris!

You read and write to and from the database using a server-side language. Server-side languages are your key to interfacing with the database.

[soldbychris]

Thanks,

as a newbie I have no idea what you just said. are you aware of any resources on the web that i can read and learn how to do this.

Chris

[coopster]

Well, what type of web server are you running? And what database did you setup? Some of the more popular languages for server-side processing are PHP, Perl, ASP, ... the list goes on. PHP [php.net] is quite popular, open source and easy to learn.

[webdude]

Witango is by far the easiest to learn and fully gui front end. But I gotta tell you it is very expensive. Around 5000 for editor and server AND you need the server to serve the web pages. But it gos on linux, Windoz, Mac, Sun, OSX, you name it. I also ties into multiple databases - access, Microsoft sql, Mysql, filemaker, syabse, and the grandaddy of them all (and certainly the most expensive) oracle.

If you are looking for something a bit more inexpensive and ultimately much more popular, you could look into ASP or the .net stuff by Micro$oft. Most hosing companies will support this.

Perl is free and you could use Mysql in a linux enviroment and get almost all the software for next to nothing, but the learning curve can be quite extensive.

I looked at php which (I think) is also free, but correct me if I am wrong, you need a server of some sort to serve the pages. However, there are more hosting companies using this.

And the there is cold fusion, not sure about the price these days, but I found it rather cumbersome to use, so I dropped it.

As you can see, there are alot of options out there. Some of this i going to depend on how much you wanna spend versus how much you wanna learn.

You just gotta roll up your sleeves and get to it.

[soldbychris]

ASP & ACCESS for the database. I am not looking at anything elaborate something simple to access client information that myself and a coworker will need on a daily basis. Any resources you could suggest would be appreciated

thanks

[Krapulator]

This [w3schools.com] is a good place to start to learn ASP. This [w3schools.com] is a good place to learn about how to integrate your databse content into your website.

[Filipe]

Warning To A Noob:

Switch to a non-Microsoft framework (ASP and Access are both MS) as soon as possible, sooner is better than later. If you're just learning for the first time, I doubt you have much of a deadline.

My recommendations are PHP [php.net] for the language and Postgres [postgresql.org] for the database.

Of course, most people start with MySQL rather than Postgres, so here's a handy-dandy guide to make you a pro:

Build your own Database Driven Website using PHP & MySQL [sitepoint.com]

Why? Security, cost, and propriety.

- Security: Microsoft's server architecture has had several very high notoriety security issues

- Cost: Linux, Apache, PHP, Postgres, and MySQL are all free. Windows, IIS, Access, and MSSQL are not free. Also, MS products require more overhead and server power than alternatives (bundles software indeed) so your hardware costs end up being higher, too.

- Propriety: Thousands of people are improving and securing PHP, MySQL, and Postgres every day. Microsoft's products tend to rot like dead badgers for months (or years! Where's my Office 2005?!) before critical fixes are out.

On the flipside, I learned using ColdFusion, IIS, and Windows. Go figure.

[soldbychris]

Thanks for your help this is just what I need.