[WEB4LIB] Re: Databases: Access, Oracle, Sybase

[Michael A. Weber]

For all of you following the discussion ---

This was a good response that I received personally.

Mike Weber


>Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 16:59:56 -0700 (PDT)
>From: "brian d. westra" <bwestra at u.washington.edu>
>To: "Michael A. Weber" <webermi at alvernia.edu>
>Subject: Re: [WEB4LIB] Re: Databases: Access, Oracle, Sybase
>
>Michael, you can download a free version of ColdFusion, called ColdFusion
>Express (I don't have the address handy, but you can find it with a search
>of Allaire's site). It will do a lot, though it doesn't support all the
>functionality (tags) that the full version can do.
>
>There is a good basic tutorial that comes with the download of CF
>Express. You can set it up on your desktop with Microsoft's personal web
>server as the server, Access as the database, and using Homesite as your
>html/ColdFusion template editor.
>
>CF is "tag-based," and generally easier to work with (from the reviews
>I've read) than is ASP. I've done a number of projects with ColdFusion,
>and find it pretty easy to grasp. You could have the database in Access,
>and ColdFusion queries that database and does output into html. 
>
>I think if you learn the basics of database design and implementation in
>Access, you can transfer that to other higher-end and open-source
>applications.
>
>Brian Westra
>University of Washington Health Sciences Library
>
>On Wed, 7 Jun 2000, Michael A. Weber wrote:
>
>> Martin,
>> 
>> I downloaded a trial copy of Cold Fusion.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to
>> get into it enough in the short time of the trial membership to understand
>> how the database functions work.
>> 
>> To run an MS access database (using Cold Fusion) do you have to have MS
>> access loaded on your server or do you export the file as I described in my
>> first message?  
>> 
>> Does Cold Fusion added code to your HTML page, or MS Access; or does it
>> store coding in a separate program file like Perl?
>> 
>> Does your LITA citation cover my questions? (Sorry for asking so many!)
>> 
>> Thanks, Martin!  I appreciate it!
>> 
>> Mike Weber 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> At 11:09 AM 6/7/00 -0400, you wrote:
>> >Mike, you might want to take a look at the LITA regional institute on web
>> databases
>> >(http://www.lita.org/institut/index.html) and this article:
>> http://www.lita.org/ital/1804_antelman.html 
>> >
>> >I'm currently working with the Cold Fusion product that can create web
>> accessible databases from MS Access (and many other) databases.
>> >
>> >Martin
>> >
>> >***********************************************
>> >Martin R. Kalfatovic
>> >Digital Projects Librarian
>> >Smithsonian Institution Libraries
>> >202-357-1521
>> >kalfatovicm at sil.si.edu
>> >
>> >>>> "Michael A. Weber" <webermi at alvernia.edu> 06/07/00 10:42AM >>>
>> >Web4libers:
>> >
>> >I getting curious about web databases.  I want to learn more about
>> >programming Access, Oracle, Sybase, Perl, and other databases.
>> >
>> >I am wondering:
>> >
>> >1) What are the strengths and weaknesses of these databases?
>> >2) Which ones are easiest to learn?
>> >3) What online and print resources are available that will give me a
>> >practical "dive-in, and just do it" introduction to these databases?
>> >   
>> >Right now our webhost has constructed a database that uses a Perl program
>> >to read data from a text file.  We can update this text file using MS
Access.
>> >
>> >However I am finding that I need to update more than just the data.  We
>> >want to add fields to the database and/or update the functionality.  I am
>> >also interested in constructing some new databases.  In order to do this I
>> >would need to learn Perl.  Since this doesn't seem to be an easy task,
I am
>> >finding that I need to pay a programmer $1500 every time I make a simple
>> >update.  This being the case, I would like to be able to make some simple
>> >databases on my own.
>> >
>> >More Questions:
>> >
>> >1) Is the database that I described above an Access database?
>> >2) If not, how does an Access database run?  Do you need Perl or another
>> >programming language?
>> >3) Do you need Perl (or another programming language) to bridge between
>> >your HTML pages and other databases such as Oracle and Sybase?  
>> >
>> >Thanks in advance.
>> >
>> >Mike Weber
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >Michael Weber
>> >Dr. Frank A. Franco Library
>> >ALVERNIA COLLEGE 
>> >400 St. Bernardine Street
>> >Reading PA  19518
>> >(610) 796-8352
>> >(610) 796-8347 Fax
>> >webermi at alvernia.edu
>> >
>> >
>> >Attachment Converted: "u:\mailbox\attach\Martin Kalfatovic.vcf"
>> >
>> Michael Weber
>> Dr. Frank A. Franco Library
>> ALVERNIA COLLEGE 
>> 400 St. Bernardine Street
>> Reading PA  19518
>> (610) 796-8352
>> (610) 796-8347 Fax
>> webermi at alvernia.edu
>> 
>
>
Michael Weber
Dr. Frank A. Franco Library
ALVERNIA COLLEGE 
400 St. Bernardine Street
Reading PA  19518
(610) 796-8352
(610) 796-8347 Fax
webermi at alvernia.edu