Databases

By Duane Taylor
February 2001

Introduction

Most people have heard of database programs, even if they have not used them on a regular basis. They enable large sources of data to be stored, entered and hopefully accessed easily through sets of well-constructed queries. The programs range from a simple, yet powerful, MS Access to huge programs like Oracle. These types of databases can, with relative ease, be incorporated into Web sites.

This topic is too big and complicated to cover the full scope in this article. People considering the incorporation of a database into a Web site are advised to do more research.

Why incorporate a database?

Any commercial or not-for-profit organization that places a lot of data on their Web site or regularly updates substantive content needs to have a database. If, for instance, an organization has a weekly report to place on the Internet a static HTML Web page for each report would have to be created if there was no database in place. This can get very tedious.

What an Internet database can do is automatically transfer a report to a Web page using a template and a lot of organized code. The new document simply needs to be entered into the database through an easy user interface. Like cascading style sheets, databases can separate content from the design making it user friendly in the future.

What it entails

There are many programs that can be used to incorporate these databases onto the Internet. There are also separate programs that can be used to develop the user interface to input the data.

In order to run a database on a Web site a server must be set up properly for interaction with database programs, such as Oracle, Sybase, MS SQL Server and Informix. From there, some programming needs to be done in order to access the proper files into the proper template.

Files can be uploaded into HTML pages through a front-end server side scripting language such Active Server Pages (.asp), PHP or Cold Fusion.

Databases use SQL (Structured Query Language) to decipher and retrieve documents. This bridges the differences between the server and the user's request.

Cost and complications

Even though transferring databases onto the Web is becoming simpler and more reliable, it still requires proper training. For a not-for-profit organization this can be fairly expensive. There are two options to consider: (1) hire an outside contractor to help build a database and link it to the Web; or (2) train an existing employee to develop the program. Either option will cost a lot of money up front, but in the long run these costs will balance out with the time saved on putting up content.

Cost is also a factor in determining the programs you need to run this system. There are server side languages like PHP that are free to use and programs like MySQL which is also free for non-commercial users if you are in a UNIX environment (approximately US$200.00 for Windows OS). The trade off for the cheaper options is that you will need more intensive participation in building and maintaining them.

Conclusion

Databases are very useful in organizing and retrieving information and within the last few years, incorporating them into Web pages has become much more efficient. The organization has to determine how much it is willing to invest to have a developer-friendly Web site. The initial investment will mean less staff time will be required to place content on the Web in the long run and, when done properly, will reduce the chance of mistakes and broken pages.

Case studies

EcoLegis: Cross-cultural Collaboration and Dealing with Databases
The EcoLegis environmental legal access facility is the result of a cooperative effort between Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN) in Argentina and the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) in Hungary.