February 03, 2005

• Hrm, I got hired by a company over the summer to do a web-based application front-ended with php and backended with mysql, im sure i could help but I need details 1. is this purely an access application 2. if not what other apps are you using
• It's for a friend and the answers need to be in some kind of sortable/readable db. I'm open to suggestions.
• So it's just all in access? Details, man, details. I'm well versed in access, web, etc, as I am a programmer by trade. Give me details, and I can probably help.
• Under some circumstances, it's possible to use MS excel and ODBC to get data out of an access database and into a readable/sortable table-like format. I don't know enough about access to tell you how amenable it is to "returning info to" the database (do you mean updates and inserts or reading the data)?
• I've got an easy to use .asp to access read/write/delete set of pages that I re-use and repurpose again and again as needed. It's really stone simple, just plug in your database name and path, etc, and the field names. if you want me to shoot it over to you, drop me a line. dirtdirt at gmail dot com.
• Simple or complicated? User maintained or corporate standard with all that entails? Access DB attached to forms, or are the forms sent from some other location and imported? If you want simple, my current solution is to have an Excel template, which is returned to me. I then link to Access and import the data. Good luck.
• Short answer: IIS, ASP, ODBC, and ADO. For a longer answer, here is a tutorial. The tutorial doesn't include anything on how to make a form using HTML, but NC Design does. Don't bother with Excel files or changing the format of the Access file in any way. Using Access, ODBC, and the ADO is by far the easiest way to make a web front end for a database using windows.
• What type of server are you on? The mechanism that writes to the database has to be a server-side language like ASP or PHP. My only experience with Access DBs is with ASP. I'm not an ASP guru, but I know the main parts: You have to create the database (making correct datatypes for each column). You have the form page (which can be simply a .html that submits to an .asp page when the form is submitted) You have the .asp page that processes the form data and writes it to the database. The way I did it you had to create a DSN on the server that made the connection from your app to your particular database. THIS PART required the server admin's cooperation. Fortunately, I was the server admin. If you aren't you may need his help as the final piece of the puzzle. There may be ways to do this that don't require admin involvement, but I've never done it that way. This tutorial may be helpful: http://www.webwizguide.info/asp/tutorials/add_to_database.asp
• It is certainly possible to have the same asp page function as the form and the form processor, but I think this is unnecessarily complicating things for the beginner.
• What you want for your Access databases is called a "DSN-less" connection. It's what I've always used. Supposedly it's actually faster than using a DSN, though unless your site sees a lot of traffic, you're not likely to notice a difference.