I am starting to learn databases, but I can't understand the concept in general. I have few questions.
After we make the base and connect our web application to it, how do
we approach to a group of items and display them in web or server controles where we
can make CSS changes?
For example I have base with countries in the world and their
capital cities in two columns, and if I have to add them in a html -
table, how do I do that, and does it not make one step for making
the base and one more for adding them to a list so the complexity is twice bigger.
Why we sometimes create JSON object for database data.
After establishing a successful connection, you will be able to bind
data to your controls. You can do it programmatically but using
webforms, you can easily do with sqlDataSource
For this example you can use a gridview to display that data, or you
can use asp table and build it manually.
JSON is used to make it easy to send data between server and client.
Otherwise you would have the client directly connect to the DB server,
and that is not good idea.
Related
Can someone explain to me why you can't connect to a MySQL DB directly through dart from a security point of view?
There is no hard guideline on whether to connect frontend directly to backend or not. It is just a design practice that has been widely accepted and evolved over many years.
Typical app structure consists of
FRONTEND -> SOME MIDDLE LAYER -> BACKEND
Where your middle layer handles all the interactions/processing with the database and the frontend uses this functionality with some sort of API structure. Having this layer is extremely helpful when the application goes to scale, it gives an added abstraction to the frontend.
It is not advisable to directly fuse your frontend(your flutter app), to the DB(MySQL) because any efficient hacker might use basic man-in-middle attack to know your DB structure/connections/queries(There are some pretty effective decompilers present out there), and alter your data and you might not even get to know what caused the data to update unless you've applied some checks on DB layer.
Also, your frontend logic needs to be more of end-user centric than to handle the data of the user. Any backend system(java, node, etc) gives you added functionality & freedom to parse and present the data from either side.
You can use the sqlite package available to store basic data, like your session tokens, your app configurations etc, but it is advisable to keep the main user data like the logins, etc in a separate place, or better yet, you can use the firebase plugin to store data in document structure in the cloud.
I'm new to webdev and I'm trying to use passport for registration/authentication on a site I'm setting up. I'm also going to write an application in node later on that will be using some of the user data (users will need to provide an API key for an account on another site that I will use to pull data into the application).
At the moment, the main issue I'm having is figuring out what goes where. I've found plenty of resources that explain how to create an app using passport, but nothing shows how it would be incorporated into your website or where the files should be in relation to your website. I'm relatively new to Node.js, and while I've written a few small applications I have never hosted them anywhere.
Bonus question: I'm using MongoDB with passport and I was also planning to use it to store some JSON my application will be receiving from API calls. However, I wanted to use MySQL to store some data as well. More specifically, I'm planning to save the raw JSON then I'll create a relational database out of the data I need from the JSON and then keep the rest in MongoDB for easy access. Is this common/smart, or should I focus on keeping everything in my MongoDB? I'm relatively new to NoSQL.
Thanks in advance for any help.
I would reference this tutorial. I just recently used this to help myself with a new application. Also there is an example of the same thing but in SQL here. So not sure what you mean by " where the files should be in relation to your website". The information related to to authentication should go in your database.
To your "bonus question" you can use two databases. The key here is to ask yourself why and what are the true needs for data, and how is this data accessed and used. From ground up I would like one and stick with it. If at some point later you realize a certain type of data would be better in a different database then you can add it.
Side note: look into an IDE such as webstorm to help you out.
So I have this fileMakerPro7 database. As my senior project, I supposed to migrate the database to a MySQL database and than give it a PHP Based interface in 3N form...
Company allow us $200 tops to spend on the project, but if I pay for something, it has to work. However, I am having trouble finding a way of migrating the database. Any suggestions?
I have found "file maker pro migrator" (http://www.fmpromigrator.com), would the trial version be enough for us? In worst case, we will start from the beginning with throwing away the whole database that company has.
I can also download fileMakerPro12 and use it for a month with trial version for free. Would I be able to convert the db by using FMP12?
I am totally lost...open to any free suggestions...
+this is a non-profit-making company I'm doing the project for
If I had to do it, I'd look at the design of the FileMaker db and create something similar in mysql. Then I would export the Filemaker data to text and import it somehow. The details depend on foreign key values and such.
The PHP interface would be done separately.
MySQL Data Conversion:
Yes, if your database is small enough, the demo version of FmPro Migrator will convert the database and also build you a PHP web application - at no cost.
Here are the limitations of the demo version:
5 fields
5 scripts
5 layouts
PHP Web Application:
Most people don't realize it, but there is a wealth of FileMaker metadata available in XML format for performing these types of conversions. This XML info is available either thru copying the layout via the clipboard or reading it from the Database Design Report XML file. I have found the clipboard data to be the most reliable source of this info.
FmPro Migrator is able to parse in the XML and convert it into the PHP web application.
Each object on a layout is represented in XML, along with style and position info. This info can be used to create form files representing the same look as the original layout. In fact, it can be difficult to see the difference between the web application and the original database if you get all of the object properties implemented. This can be helpful for situations in which companies don't want to have to retrain their employees. They want the web application to look and work the same as the original desktop application.
I have done a few of these conversions recently into the CakePHP framework. Here a few techniques I used:
Auto-Enter Calculation Fields - Stored calculation fields are calculated and stored within the model saves a record to the database.
Unstored Calculation Fields - Unstored Calculation fields are calculated in real-time within the form controller - but only for fields actually displayed on the form. This prevents unnecessarily calculating these values if they aren't being used on a form, improving performance.
Global Fields - A Global field in FileMaker is used like a global variable in programming languages. It is important to know that each FileMaker user gets there own private copy of global field data. There is no equivalent feature MySQL or other SQL database servers, but this functionality can easily be simulated using SESSION variables. Therefore each web user will still get their own private SESSION data, simulating the same functionality originally present in the FileMaker database. I structure these globals in the model data array as if they were retrieved from the model, meaning that converted scripts and fields on forms can reference them easily. Just before the record gets written into the database, the results are saved into SESSION variables for persistence.
Global Variables in Scripts - Global variables within FileMaker scripts match up very well with the use of PHP SESSION variables, if you want to implement the same functionality.
Vector Graphic Objects - FileMaker layouts frequently include rectangles, ovals and line objects. These objects can be replaced with the RafaelJS library, providing high quality resolution independent graphics.
Value Lists - Custom and Field based value lists are implemented in a centralized location within the AppController.php file. Therefore making a change to the definition of the value list within the AppController, succeeds in changing the menu automatically throughout the whole application.
I'm currently in the planning phase of a rather large project that I'll develop in the Zend Framework. One of the problems I'm facing is that the customers will want to translate not only the content but also the interface. I'm currently using gettext and poedit to manage my language files but this is not an option for the customer as they, for one, wont have FTP access to the site.
Hence, I'm thinking of a mysql back end with an interface in the front end for the customer to manage his own translations of the interface. There is however still no mysql adapater for Zend_Translate.
So, does anybody now of an adapter script for Zend_Translate so it can work with a mysql table? Or any arguments against using mysql and possible other solutions for this problem?
You could solve this problem on different ways:
Extend Zend_Translate_Adapter to create your own. All new adapters are only responsible from getting the translations out from the source. That is, you would need only to fetch the translations from the database. Look at other adapters and see how they are implemented.
Fetch the data from the database and pass it to Zend_Translate_Adapter_Array
Use Zend_Translate_Adapter_Csv or Ini. As there would be more reading the writing on the translations, this solution would cut down the number of queries to the database. When the client adds a new language or changes an existing one, simply write it to a file, not the database.
If you decide to go with the database adapter, maybe you could "tag" somehow the translations, so that on the home page you fetch only the translations for the home page, on the contact page only the translations for the contact page...
HTH!
Default Zend adapters handle caching well, so I'd stick to them, unless you really need database.
Instead storing the translation data in the database, you may directly operate on the translation files (e.g. po templates). This would be the best choice if you just needed to add (append to file) new translation strings.
You may use Zend_Translate's option to log untranslated messages (to file or any log adapter, including database),
and then handle the logs, or even create listener translating the saved strings.
Here's how: http://cloetensbrecht.be/zend_translate_mysql.html
First a bit about the environment:
We use a program called Clearview to manage service relationships with our customers, including call center and field service work. In order to better support clients and our field technicians we also developed a web site to provide access to the service records in Clearview and reporting. Over time our need to customize the behavior and add new features led to more and more things being tied to this website and it's database.
At this point we're dealing with things like a Company being defined partly in the Clearview database and partly in the website database. For good measure we're also starting to tie the scripting for our phone system into the same website, which will require talking to the phone system's own database as well.
All of this is set up and working... BUT we don't have a good data layer to work with it all. We moved to Linq to SQL and now have two DBMLs that we can use, along with some custom classes I wrote before I'd ever heard of Linq, along with some of the old style ADO datasets. So yeah, basically things are a mess.
What I want is a data layer that provides a single front end for our applications, and on the back end manages everything into the correct database.
I had heard something about Entity Framework allowing classes to be built from multiple sources, but it turns out there can only be one database. So the question is, how could I proceed with this?
I'm currently thinking of getting the Linq To SQL classes all set for each database, then manually writing Linq compatible front ends that tie those together. Seems like a lot of work, and given Linq's limitations (such as not being able to refresh) I'm not sure it's a good idea.
Could I do something with Entity Framework that would turn out better? Should I look into another tool? Am I crazy?
The Entity Framework does give a certain measure of database independence, insofar as you can build an entity model from one database, and then connect it to a different database by using a different entity connect string. However, as you say, it's still just one database, and, moreover, it's limited to databases which support the Entity Framework. Many do, but not all of them. You could use multiple entity models within a single application in order to combine multiple databases using the Entity Framework. There is some information on this on the ADO.NET team blog. However, the Entity Framework support for doing this is, at best, in an early stage.
My approach to this problem is to abstract my use of the Entity Framework behind the Repository pattern. The most immediate benefit of this, for me, is to make unit testing very simple; instead of trying to mock my Entity model, I simply substitute a mock repository which returns IQueryables. But the same pattern is also really good for combining multiple data sources, or data sources for which there is no Entity Framework provider, such as a non-data-services-aware Web service.
So I'm not going to say, "Don't use the Entity Framework." I like it, and use it, myself. In view of recent news from Microsoft, I believe it is a better choice than LINQ to SQL. But it will not, by itself, solve the problem you describe. Use the Repository pattern.
if you want to use tools like Linq2SQl or EF and don't want to have to manage multiple DBMLS (or whaetever its called in EF or other tools), you could create views in your website database, that reference back to the ClearView or Phone system's DB.
This allows you to decouple your web site from their database structure. I believe Linq2Sql and EF can use a view as the source for an Entity. If they can't look at nHibernate.
This will also let you have composite entities that are pulled from the various data sources. There are some limitations updating views in SQL Server; however, you can define your own Instead of trigger(s) on the view which can then do the actual insert update delete statements.
L2S works with views, perfectly, in my project. You only need to make a small trick:
1. Add a secondary DB table to the current DB as a view.
2. In Designer, add a primary key attribute to a id field on the view.
3. Only now, add an association to whatever other table you want in the original DB.
Now, you might see the view available for the navigation.