Making%20Database%20Web%20Accessible

1
Making Database Web Accessible

• Track 3 -
• Basic Course in Database

2
Learning Objectives

• At the end of the session, you should be able to
• Understand the concepts and technology in
  Web-accessible databases
• Name the tools used to make a database accessible
  to the WWW

3
Database Application Architecture

• "the power of a database is realized in the tools
  that use it"
• -Yarger 1999

Application hides the database from the user. It
is a mask put on a database to achieve a
user-friendly look and feel. The application
takes care of the "where-to-put" and "how-to-get"
data from a database. This is because working in
the native database environment is too cryptic
for a simple data processor or end-user.
4
Client/Server
5
A sample database application architecture using
WWW/Internet

• MySQL, an open source RDBMS with a sample
  Contacts database and
• Perl, CGI and other Perl modules like DBI,
  Data-Show, are programs that mediate and
  interpret requests-answers exchanges between
  Apache and MySQL.

• . The server computer that uses a Unix operating
  system contains the following programs
• Apache, a Web server program that administers
  requests for HTML pages

6

• Perl script...
• !/usr/bin/perl
• use DBI
• use CGI
• my dbh DBI-gtconnect('DBImysqlcontactslocalho
  st','nobody','')
• or die DBIerrstr
• q new CGI
• my SQL ltlt "EOT"
• SELECT Title,FirstName,LastName from PERSON order
  by LastName
• EOT
• my cursor dbh-gtprepare(SQL)
• cursor-gtexecute
• my _at_columns
• print q-gtheader()
• print q-gtstart_html(-titlegt'ContactPerson List
  generated with Perl/CGI')
• print "ltTABLE BORDERgt"

7
HTML output generated by the Perl script

• lt!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01
  Transitional//EN"
• "http//www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"gt
• ltHTMLgtltHEADgtltTITLEgtContactPerson List generated
  with Perl/CGI lt/TITLEgt
• lt/HEADgtltBODYgtltTABLE BORDERgtltTRgtltTH COLSPAN3gtList
  of Contact Personlt/THgtlt/TRgt
• ltTRgtltTHgtTitlelt/THgtltTHgtFirst Namelt/THgtltTHgtLast
  Namelt/THgtlt/TRgt
• ltTRgtltTDgtMs.lt/TDgtltTDgtRhonalt/TDgtltTDgtBautistalt/TDgtlt/T
  Rgt
• ltTRgtltTDgtMs.lt/TDgtltTDgtSarahlt/TDgtltTDgtEscandorlt/TDgtlt/T
  Rgt
• ltTRgtltTDgtMadamlt/TDgtltTDgtZailanlt/TDgtltTDgtKamaruddinlt/T
  Dgtlt/TRgt
• lt/TABLEgtlt/BODYgtlt/HTMLgt

8
And this is how it looks like on a browser
9
What do you need to carry out this Web database
solution?

• .An Internet connection.
• .A Web server.
• .A DBMS (perhaps MySQL ? ).
• .Additional applications installed in your Web
  server such as
• Perl 5.x which can be downloaded from the Perl
  site at http//www.perl.com
• DBI/DBD module which can be downloaded from the
  Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN) site at
  http//www.perl.com/CPAN/authors/id/TIMB/DBI/DBI-1
  .06.tar.gz
• DataShowTable which is a module that simplifies
  the act of displaying large amounts of data
  needed for Mysql modules. It can be downloaded
  from http//www.perl.com/CPAN/authors/id/AKSTE/Dat
  a-ShowTable-3.3.tar.gz
• .Somebody with a knowledge of HTML and CGI/Perl
  programming .

10
Sample sites using WebDB solutions in the Women's
Network

• AWORC Multi-lingual Search Database (Demo).
• URL http//www.jca.apc.org/aworc/search/search.ht
  ml
• European Database Women in Decision-Making.
• The European Database - Women in Decision-Making
  provides information about women in political
  decision-making positions in the European Union,
  in Member States of the European Economic Area
  and in the Candidate Countries.
• URL http//www.db-decision.de/english/default.htm
  
• Mapping the World of Women's Information
  Services.
• URL http//www.iiav.nl/mapping/beginner/index_gb.
  html
• National Research Foundation Women-in-Research
  Database
• URL http//www.nrf.ac.za/wir/wirdbase.htm
• WITEC European database for women experts in
  Science, Engineering and Technology.
• URL http//cemu10.fmv.ulg.ac.be/WITEC/search.htm
• Women in Politics Bibliographic database.
• The bibliographic database Women in Politics has
  been developed with the contribution of the
  United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The
  database is regularly up-dated to take account of
  new books and articles produced throughout the
  world on the subject of women in politics. So
  far, it covers some 650 titles representing
  international, regional, country-by-country as
  well as thematic perspectives of the subject.
• URL http//www.ipu.org/bdf-e/BDfsearch.asp