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Introduction to
Database Publishing.
When you want to publish a database to the Internet, there
are several options available. But first you will have to take into account the
limitations that your hosting provider might impose upon you. Not all hosting
providers allow you to run scripts on their server, some others don't allow
applications or databases on the server. These factors will all limit your
options, but by using the information in this section you will be able to
determine whether you can find a satisfactory solution with you current hosting
provider or changing to a different hosting provider is a better option.
Let's start with the basics. Roughly there are two main
streams in database publishing and database publishing tools. In this section of
the site we will descibe the two main streams first at high level, then more
into depth. Then we will discuss a number of tools available to facilitate the
different ways of database publishing.
The first stream 'automatically' generates static HTML pages
from a database. Changes in the database will not take effect on the Internet
until new pages are generated and uploaded to the server. We'll refer to this
method as static
database publishing. The advantage of this method is the ease with wich you
can publish databases. Also, it does not require any special features on the
webserver. This means that you will always be able to use this method
irrespective of who you hosting provider is. The disadvantage is the (manual)
interaction that is required to upload the newly generated files to the server.
Also the possibilities of having clients/visitors update their own information,
etc. is not there. In short, this method is good for a situation in which you
want to communicate the contents of a database that is not changed to often and
is only maintained in one place (locally).
The second stream uploads the database to the server and has
dynamic pages that interact directly with the database. We'll refer to this
method as dynamic
database publishing. In order to use this method it required the running of
CGI scripts, ISAPI, NSAPI, ASP or programs (e.g. applets) on the server. For
more information about these methods, please refer to the table in the dynamic
database publishing section. The advantages and disadvantages of this method are
the reversed ones of static database publishing. Meaning that it is (often) not
so easy to use and requires more knowledge and capabilities of the publisher.
Also it does require some features with regard to the web server. On the other
hand it delivers a highly interactive site that can e.g. be updated by the means
of forms. Changes in the database are directly reflected on the pages.
If you would like to read up on either static or dynamic
database publishing, or if you would like to know more about tools that can help
you publishing databases, then please use links to other pages.
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