I created a table in Microsoft Access Database and I wanted to use this database in the website I built with HTML. The problem is that I don't know how to link the database file to my website (or to the form inside the body of the HTML file, I actually don't even know how it works...). Can you help me?
Honestly i don't know much about Microsoft Access Database . I assume it is like other databases.
But, if you would like information that you made within a database to be shown in html, it will take much more than just html. There are a few paths you can take depending on what you want to accomplish.
The first thing is that your Database (hereby named "DB") needs to be accessible online (where your web page would live). Unless Microsoft Access Database is a "Cloud based" DB.
I use Microsoft Sql Server Management Studio (MSSM) for by DB needs, but MongoDB is a cloud based solution.
With MSSM you can use Amazon Web Services to create a webserver that runs MSSM and is accessible via the cloud.
The second thing to do would be to be able to get information from your DB to your webpage. There may be an easier solution, which I will recommend. I use C# to do this, but I know it can also be done with Ruby, and NodeJS. Within either of those languages, you will need an Object Relational Mapper (ORM), to read the info from your DB and then Create,Read,Update or Delete (CRUD) to and from your DB. An example of an ORM is EntityFrameWork or Nhibernate.
But there is a different way. If you are ok with not using a DB, you can use XML or JSON files much the same way as a DB. Which is what I did.
My github repo
Check out my non-db solution
The short version is that all of your info in your DB can be represented using .JSON files.You can then use Javascript (or Jquery) to view and display (not update) the info.
if you need help with this, leave a way to contact you, it is too much to put here.
How you do this will depend on your web development tools.
And it also depends on your web hosting company.
Remember, a web server is just a computer. It not really much different of a computer then your desktop.
And on your desktop, if you want to use say word, then you need word installed.
And on your web server, if you want to write code say in python, or asp.net, then your web site computer has to support that type of programming language.
So a web site that connects to a database will mean that you have to write some code in the web programming system of your choice. (However, that choice is limited to the tools available on that web site just like if word or say FoxPro, or Access is installed on your desktop computer.
So quite a few web hosting companies do support using an Access database. Note that this is ONLY the data part they support (so just the tables, not VBA code or forms/reports).
So, you have to either:
Pick some web programming languages you like or are familiar with, and then
Choose a web hosting provider that supports the programming language(s) you want or like to use.
Or, check your current web hosting provider and learn the tools and programming language(s) that they currently support.
For example, a really common development stack (set of tools) is called LAMP.
Lamp = Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP.
So, if they support LAMP, then the server is a Linux server, the web server system is Apache, and the database is MySQL, and the programming language is PHP.
Keep in mind that Access does not work on the LAMP stack. (It is not a windows server, and just like you can’t install Access on an Apple Mac, you can’t install the Access data drivers on a LAMP server.
However, in most cases you don’t really care, because your code going to be the same if you pull table data from SQL server, MySQL server, or a Access database. In all 3 cases, you going to write some SQL queries against that database (to be fair, the SQL flavors do vary a bit. So Access SQL is mostly the same as SQL server, but there are minor differences). Since your code can ONLY use the tables, then you tend to not care much if the tables are in Access or MySQL. Your SQL queries you write will be VERY similar no matter what database you use to hold the tables.
If your web hosting provider supports and uses asp.net, then that web server is a Microsoft server. These are the ones that support using Access databases. And asp.net programming languages can be c# or vb.net. VB.net is nice, since it reads and you can code very much like VBA code (the syntax is very similar). And web pages (web forms) have event models somewhat similar to what you use on the Access desktop.
So, HTML alone is not sufficient for writing code. HTML can lay out some text on a web page, but it does not allow you to write code with SQL and loops and everything you come to expect with a programming language like we have say in Access (VBA).
So what kind of web server is hosting your web pages will determine what programming languages are installed and can be used on the web computer.
Apache is a common web server. That web server can dish out HTML pages, but ALSO allow you to write code for the web page. It is the coding part that allows you to execute SQL against the database to return data, and shove it into the HTML page that you have created.
If you using an IBM server, then the web server is WebSphere.
And if you using ASP.net, then the web server is IIS (internet information services).
So there is “many” different kinds of web servers. While any of these web servers (the server that dishes out web pages to users) allow HTML, they all use different programming languages.
Also, because the database used (Access, MySQL, SQL server etc.) only holds the tables, so at the end of the day, it tends to not be a big deal if you use Access to hold some tables, or say using MySQL database to hold the tables.
However, say if you have experience with SQL server from Microsoft, and are comfortable with that system, then it makes sense to choose a web server (hosting provider) that supports SQL server, since you will be familiar with that database server more than say using MySQL or Oracle databases.
So, how you get your data into the HTML page will depend on what web programming language your web hosting provider supports.
So you either choose the tools your current web hosting provider supports, or you pick the web programming tools and languages you like, and find a web hosting provider that supports those programming languages.
So this is not different then say choosing Access. If you choose and like Access, then you can’t run your software on an Apple Mac.
And of course if you use some Mac programming language, then you can’t run that software on windows.
So, how this works is exactly the same for when you choose a web server. That web server will run windows software, or say often Linux software. So you have use and write code that the given web hosting system you are using supports.
A web server is just a computer with software installed. If you want to write some code to pull the data, then you write that code in some programming language that is installed and supporting on the web server system you are using.
So, web sites that dish out data are NOT just HTML but also will have code written to send SQL to the database, and pull that data into the web page. What programing you choose is quite much like what kind of ice cream you like. (You have lots of choices here).
So web hosting systems support HTML, but EVEN what features of HTML are supported will vary from hosting provider to provider.
Related
So I'm trying to figure out how to connect to an access database that is on my desktop through html. Everything I've found so far involves the DB being server side and people mentioning ASP.net or just using SQL or mySQL instead. I just need to know how to get the connection up and running. Any help would be appreciated.
You need some kind of web programming language. That can be PHP or ASP.NET or Java or whatever, but you need something else -- HTML can't connect to a database on its own.
I'd highly advise that you take this opportunity to switch to another database server (like SQL Server or MySQL, like you mentioned). Microsoft Access is not well suited to use in web applications.
You're just going to get the same answers here. If you want to stay with Access, ASP.Net is the way to go. Access isn't webbased, most other databases are, so it's a bad fit.
If you want a professional solution, you could get yourself a Sharepoint server and put an Access WebApp on there. But note that this is intended for larger businesses, and priced accordingly, and your database will be limited in features (no VBA for example).
You cannot read or modify files from your (or anyone else) computer with frontend/html/javascript. Yes, you need some backend to connect to your database on your computer/server.
There are databases that work on client side/frontend, like IndexedDB, but it's not ms access and I don't think it's what you want.
I am making a relational database for a friend who is not tech savvy. I am looking for something that she can upload the correctly formatted excel files into and be able to see the relationships clearly.
(<1>[John Smith]<2>[Sam Jones] rather than <1><6><2><244>, etc.)
I know I can make my own web-based system but I was not sure if there was an open source (or freely available) system already available, either desktop-based or web-based. I tried googling it but I am afraid that I am using the wrong keywords. (I only got server-side systems)
Any thoughts?
It's ugly and expensive, but MS/Access does this well. It's good for beginners and Excel integrates very well. If she has Office Professional she already has it. It also supports ODBC so it can use other database engines.
As far as desktop DBMS goes, as Peter Wooster pointed out (+1) MS Access is the most user friendly for people who are used to Office (e.g. especially Excel).
If you are thinking of building something with a web GUI (i.e. with ASP.NET) then you can get SQL Server Express for free and it can be deployed on a client PC.
There are other typically server-based RDBMS systems with workstation-friendly editions, such as MySQL and even Oracle (although there is nothing friendly about Oracle, workstation or otherwise).
I'm writing the entire database system for a factory, this includes inventory, payroll, incoming and outgoing shipments, job-data, customers, etc. The database will be stored offsite on a server running Windows 2008 R2 with SQL 2005. The guy who runs the server sent me this too:
"We also have quickbooks installed on the server and we have Exchange 2010 running. The terminal server is also ws 2008 R2.
There is plenty of horsepower on the primary exchange/file server. Let me know if you have any other questions.".
I know my boss uses Quickbooks to look at reports and stuff like that. I'm not sure how relevant exchange 2010 is, nor what the significance of "terminal server is also ws 2008 r2" is. My boss wants me to write the entire system in ms access 2010, but I feel like this will be a lot more work than simply writing it in MySQL. Will my boss still be able to look at his reports in quickbooks if we change the database to MySQL? What would be a good database technology to use? I feel the most comfortable writing it in a scripting language using MySQL, but would still be happy if I could write it in something like C/C++. I've been trying to learn access, and it seems that setting up a front-end and back-end database in access would be a pain in the ass. There are going to be several sectors in the factory that will be using the client-side software to run queries and insertions into the database(I think around 5-6).
If I can write this thing in MySQL, I think I could do the whole thing fairly pain free, but I fear that I can't because it will be incompatible with Quickbooks and the previous database(Although I hear converting is fairly easy). Mostly just Quickbook compatibility is my problem.
How horrible would it be to write this thing in Ruby?
Thank you, any help is greatly appreciated.
I don't mean to be a spoil sport but there is a tremendous amount of naivety expressed in this question. It's hard to imagine that you will be successful in designing and implementing such a large system without a basic knowledge of the technologies involved.
A few thoughts:
Quickbooks already covers most of the features you say you will be responsible for implementing. Are you supplementing the existing Quickbooks system, replacing it, or what?
Quickbooks uses its own (extraordinarily slow) database engine. It isn't "compatible" with SQL Server, MySQL, or Access.
SQL Server 2005 is a database. You don't use a database with it, you use it as your database. A Microsoft-centric organization such as the one you describe is not likely to be interested in installing yet another database server like MySQL.
MS Access encompasses both a database "engine" (called JET) and a desktop development environment. The engine can be used with other development environments and the development environment can attach to other database engines (most often SQL Server, but others work too). When you say the boss wants to write the system in MS Access you need to be clear whether he means the engine, the development environment or both. (My guess is they want to use Access as the front-end development platform and SQL Server as the data store).
You will not write a system of this complexity in a month. You probably won't even design it in that time.
Quickbooks can use MySQL as a datasource (or just about anything else), but you'll need to make your database conform to the Quickbooks way of doing things: i.e., your tables will need to match the QB table structures. It sounds like you just need a front end (data entry forms and reports) and a custom back-end. Access can quickly turn into a nightmare if you don't put in some up-front design thought, but it does give you forms & reports & web pages free in a neat little package. Make sure you use an Access Data Project (adp) that's connected to a SQL Server back end. Access does have its own native database, but everything gets stored in one local file and it's not good for applications that will be accessed by multiple people in multiple locations. It also gets complicated when you need to make a change and roll it out to all of your users.
Another option is to look into a customizable web platform, like SalesForce or MS Dynamics. That will also let you create your own tables, forms, and reports, and updates are immediate for all users, but you'll have ongoing monthly user fees. They look great on a resume, though!
I am learning web application development. To save anything on a server, ("In the cloud," like Facebook and Google do) within a web application, do I need to use server side code, or can it be accomplished another way?
A web application typically saves data in a (SQL) database. You could start off with a DB software (mysql, postgres, etc.) running on the same server as your application. As you application scales, you can evaluate other options such as separating out the work load, memcache, etc.
i have application that generate php/html/asp web sites and i like to be able to
let the possibility to test the sites from within the application . is there any possibility to do that ?
Testing a web site is a pretty complicated task. While you could certainly write a web server and test engine, I'm not sure why you would want to. I'd suggest using IIS (since you need ASP) as your web server and configuring it to support PHP. Then use WatiN or Selenium, or something similar to test your sites.
I have to agree with tvanfosson. Including a full-fledged standalone web server, and one that supports both ASP and PHP, is a tall order. It can probably be done, but I don't know if you have the manpower or resources to do it.
Your best hope would probably be to include a self-configuring web server with your application. For PHP you could just use an open source web server like Apache with the Zend Engine. I'm not so sure how you could distribute an ASP interpreter with your software.
However, I think a more practical solution is to simply do what Dreamweaver and most other HTML editors/web development tools do. Since the user would likely already have access to a web server, you could just have them supply the login information for the SFTP/SCP and have the application upload the code to the remote or local server for testing.