School project help: Connecting database to website and granting remote access - database

I'm working on a project at school where we have to create a small system for an RV retailer to track customers, vehicles, employees, inventory, and so on.
We've gotten to the point where we'll need to start coding pretty soon, but I'm having trouble figuring out the logistics of everything. For example, I know enough to build and use the website and database, but I don't have any idea on how to connect the two.
I know SQL fairly well. Enough to know what and where to look for the information, but I don't know enough about connecting my database to know what I'm looking for.
So what I'm looking for is a basic rundown on different options I can look and do some research on what would be best for our group.
I feel like there's a lot of information out there on how to do stuff, but I just don't have the basic information on why it's relevant and how and where to fully utilize it.
I hope this makes sense. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help clear it up.

One of the options of having a database-driven website is to use PHP.
It is a server-side scripting language, which is used to generate the dynamic content on the webpages. You can connect to the database, obtain user input using for example HTML forms, perform queries and display results on the webpage.
Essentially you build an application with a web-based user interface. PHP is supported on a vast majority of web hosting platforms.

Related

BLOB database setup

I collected lots of data (images, pdf's,...) over some years. For my start-up, I like to be able to access this data through a web application as well as a website. All of the data has a relation with each other reaching from example images, contact cards, and bills,... so I would like to query the data by inserting tag filters. I am a very beginner in this stuff but would love to get a good basis and self-education, so I can maintain and manage my database. A connection with normal SQL data is also necessary. I assume the setup of a central database to connect later on web applications/website/mobile apps is the first thing to create....? If somebody can help me at least with some advice on how to start, I would be very happy.
I searched a lot, but as a newbie I get overwelmed by all kinds of software.
I would love to get some help on how to start in the right way.

How do I use Strapi with a database that already has a schema developed?

TL;DR: Does strapi require me to model my database schema inside its admin panel?
Or is there a way I can use a database that I created its tables (but didn't populate it yet), populate it then and generate APIs for use in my front-end?
I understand this may be a general misunderstanding on my part as far as and I may have gotten on this framework for the wrong reasons - but I'd like to understand why so I can avoid making such decisions later on and have some better fundamentals for choosing my tooling.
My goal - I'm creating an eCommerce website for an extremely small artisan's shop that cannot afford anything but stuff like free AWS tiers at the moment. The end goal is a website for a few products with credit card payment, a database, and reasonably safe authentication, and I want it to be simple enough so that I can eventually scale it if it grows. I want to understand this project very intimately and really get to know my tooling.
What I tried vs my needs - my stack currently consists of react+next on the front-end, and strapi with postgresql for the back-end. I then took to the PostgreSQL docs (and my undergrad's database notes) and tried my hand at designing a database schema based on my app's use cases. However, I believed strapi would work with a traditional database modeled in a bare bones way. What I see now is that the only option from the docs is modeling it from scratch through its admin panel. I'd like to really understand out how I'm supposed to work with something I modeled elsewhere - how it all connects. I'd really appreciate any help. I hope this question is not too broad but I'm hoping it'll clear up some huge misconception I have!

Core understanding f what salesforce is

firstly I apologise if this is a ridiculously simple question to answer but it has been bothering me for a while.
I am trying to understand what salesforce actually is, I mean in technical terms. I have read the websites documentation and the wikipedia page but I am trying to understand what's behind all this fluffy terminology.
My understanding is that salesforce is a cloud based database which stores a very high volume of information and all salesforce apps consists of scripts that query this database and model them in different ways depending on the intended application, is this correct?
Thanks !
Software as a Service (SaaS)
To get program you need to download it, install, configure and so on. If your system have a lot of users it's very hard to configure ans support single user installation.
Imagine that you improved application, new release for example. You need update every instance.
With SaaS model you have a shared web application, that do the same thing as old downloadable one. But it's much easier to support it, because ideally there is just one instance of it.
Salesforce is a company that provides its own system by SaaS model, but not only. It is also a platform for developing new applications.

Best approach to database and UI development?

This question covers a number of areas, so may ultimately have to broken up into constituent parts. However, I don't want to do this, at least until I have some general idea of what direction I should be taking!
I want to create an online booking system under the .Net Framework. The GUI would have two separate vital areas. 1. would be the typical form GUI for setting up a user account. 2. would be a Calendar (much in the same vein as Google Calendar - if not actually Google Calendar) which would show users available times that users can book, and hopefully allow them to actually book by simply clicking on an available time as displayed on the calendar.
The available times that would be displayed on the calendar would depend on two things: the type of user the user is (would be specified in the signup form) and also (obviously) whether or not other users have already taken available slots.
One big question I have is whether it is possible to use Microsoft Access (any version) for this task. My preference is due to familiarity, and the fact that most other technologies being used in this development are Microsoft based. I know it is possible to migrate Access DBs with SQL Server - but would this include the vital front end (i.e. the form)?
Finally, The strategy for approaching the calendar aspect of the front-end is doing my head in a little! While it is certainly possible to integrate SQL Server and Google (docs/calendar) I feel that attempting to shoehorn Google Calendar into such a complex relational database would be ultimately infeasible - but I am struggling to think of an alternative without having to do my own development (which, in this case, I am seriously attempting to avoid!)
Any guidance on the above would be greatly appreciated!
My $.02: as #Luxspes said, Sql Server has no "forms" or "reports", but the SQL Server engine is better suited to web-based applications than Access's "Jet" engine. You could, however, develop your application in Access and then "upsize" your database, which tells Access "hey, those forms and reports are great, but now I want you to put the back-end database into SQL Server Express (free) and keep the front-end in Access." You can then publish your forms and reports to the web using Access's own tools, getting them "for free" while getting the better database engine on the back.
Be aware that doing this is not generally acceptable in the commercial world. An Access application looks like an Access application and most of the world will recognize it, and most don't like it: it will seem like you're cutting corners unless you can make the forms look really, really good. For in-house use it's fine because it has a fast turn-around time so the ROI is great. If you're making a commercial site, I'd take a look at the Microsoft MVC 3 framework: it will take a while to get your noodle around it, but once you're up to speed you can develop sites pretty quickly and robustly. If "robustly" is a word.
Is it possible to use Microsoft Access (any version) for this task, the task being using Access as the database for a online booking system under the .Net Framework: Yes. (But I would prefer to use MSSQL Express Edition)
I know it is possible to migrate Access DBs with SQL Server - but would this include the vital front end (i.e. the form)?: No, SQL Server has not concept of "forms". If you already have them in Access you would have to re-create them in, for example, ASP.NET. If you are looking for the easiest fastest way to do it, I would recommend you LightSwitch ( http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/lightswitch )
Finally, The strategy for approaching the calendar aspect of the front-end is doing my head in a little!: If you do no want to code it, you can find it in Google, just write ".NET Schedule control"

Registering Users to a Login Database - Web Frontend?

I have a database which manages login information for an application, and find myself (for rather tragic reasons involving combo boxes - don't ask) needing to manage the registration of new users through a web frontend. Quite literally all it needs to do is have a single form composed of a few edit boxes and a handful of combo boxes. Keeping in mind that I'm completely inept and possessed of functionally no previous experience as a web programmer, how would one suggest going about making this form? (If there's a solution that keeps web simplicity but is functionally heavy on C++, or less ideally Java, I'm all ears.)
As a bonus question, it would also be useful (but, I imagine, rather difficult) to have one of the combo boxes update with information pulled from a SELECT query to the database. Is this possible for a web design beginner like me?
If I understand you right, you just want a web interface to login/create a user account?
Since I have a heavy C++ background, I would have done that with PHP, CSS and SQL. With PHP you can access your database in any way you want with SQL. Use CSS to display faulty fields in the user interface.
I run an Apache server with PHP5 and MySQL.
I'm I on the right track? or did you mean something else?
If this is what you are looking for let me know and I can try to help you a bit further.

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