Platinum Edition Using HTML 4, XML, and Java 1.2
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): Eric Ladd
ISBN: 078971759x
Publication Date: 11/01/98

Microsoft Access

Microsoft Access is a relational database management system that is part of the Microsoft Office suite. Microsoft Access can be used to create HTML documents based on the information stored in the Access database with the help of Microsoft’s Internet Assistant. Microsoft’s Internet Assistant is an add-on that is available free of charge for Access users. Microsoft Access can also support ActiveX controls, which makes Access even more powerful when used with the Microsoft Internet Explorer.

You can also query an Access database without having Access on the Web server. If you have the Access ODBC driver installed, you can access any .mdb file with your Web server to retrieve or update database information.

A Job forum page was created to enable you to see how Access can be used in conjunction with the World Wide Web.

	ON THE WEB
	http://www.microsoft.com/accessdev/ Details on Microsoft Access and how you can use Access with your Web-based applications can be found at this URL. Additionally, you can test the Job forum and look at the code used to create this application.

MySQL

Developed by T.c.X, MySQL (pronounced My Ess Que Ell) was created to handle large amounts of data. According to one of the benchmark tests, MySQL provides a robust SQL engine comparable to the major commercial database servers. MySQL can be accessed using Perl, ODBC, C, and Tcl; it provides you with the means to provide database-generated Web content. For more information, visit http://www.mysql.com/.

Solid

Solid Information Technology, Ltd., provides a low-cost commercial Web database solution for providing dynamic database-driven content. One product, the Solid Web Engine, was created and optimized specifically for Web/database use. Various programming languages can be used to interface with the Solid Web Engine, including C/C++, Perl, Tcl, and Python. With the capability to handle large amounts of data, the Solid Web Engine is definitely a viable option for use in providing Web/database content. For more information see http://www.solidtech.com/.

Database Tools

Now that you have taken a look at the various databases available, it’s time to take a look at the third-party tools that help you create applications to tie your databases to the Web.

Some of the tools work with only one specific database; other tools work with a couple of different databases; and some tools work with most databases available.

Which tool you use depends on several factors:

Which database are you using? I know that this sounds like a simple thing to consider, but I’ve repeatedly seen companies that have purchased a Web/database tool that doesn’t work with their existing database. Most of the time, they purchased a particular tool because they liked that tool’s features or ease of use. They didn’t realize that some of the tools work with specific databases. You will want to know which tools work with each particular database. MsqlPerl doesn’t work at all with Microsoft Access, for example, and Oracle can’t be used with web.sql.

Which platform are your database and Web servers running on? On NT you have the capability to use the ODBC driver to access a database, making programming Web/database applications easier. This doesn’t help much, though, if your company’s SQL server is on a UNIX machine. If you are programming the database application on a UNIX machine, it doesn’t help if the SQL server is on an NT. How you go about programming your database application will depend on what platform your Web server is running on, what platform your database is on, and what tools you have at your disposal.

How do you want to access a database (using CGI or a proprietary API)? Portability used to be the biggest concern when constructing a database application for the Web. Now it is not. Because of the ease of use with most proprietary APIs, they have become quite commonplace but may create problems if the technology changes drastically in the future. Web/database tools such as Visual Interdev and DBI enable a bit more flexibility when porting scripts or applications to be used with different databases. Other tools are quite limited and restrictive (MORE, for example, which is discussed later in this chapter).

How much money is your company willing to spend? This may not be a major consideration for most larger companies, but smaller businesses have to watch every nickel and dime. If you weigh the tools available with how much money a company is willing to spend, you will most likely be able to create a rock-solid application for even the most frugal company.

With these ideas in mind, take a look at the tools available, as described in the next sections, and see which Web/database tool will suit your needs.