Help please for amateur developer wanting database connections with CS4

[Bramwellc]

Hi there

I’m an amateur web developer ‘volunteer’ for a sports group, and would really appreciate if someone is able to please help me with regard to
(a) checking I have my URL’s etc. set up correctly for a webserver/tester so that I can connect to y Access database; and
(b) setting up the database connection.
I’ve just upgraded from Dreamweaver 3 to Dreamweaver CS4 so that I can set this up.

My first concern is that because I’ve fluffed around with the original site definition addresses in an effort to work this out myself, I might now have inadvertently made a change that will stop the whole website running.  Although I originally set all this up, it was quite awhile ago and I don’t remember how it should be set up, or what I’ve just changed!

The website runs off my laptop.  My site name is “NZMWeb”, the root folder for all my files is:

C:\Users\Liam\NZMaristWebsite\htdocs\

and the site itself is:  http://www.maristrugby.org.nz/

Additionally I’ve just now enabled IIS thru Windows XP, and have chosen to use ASP.

The database is called “Marist.accdb”, and I have copied it into the root folder for my website, i.e. C:\Users\Liam\NZMaristWebsite\htdocs\

My site definition tabs for NZMWeb now read:

For Local:
Site name= NZMWeb; local root folder= C:\Users\Liam\NZMaristWebsite\htdocs\;  Links relative to = site root; HTTP address = http://www.maristrugby.org.nz/

For remote access = “None” (This seems odd to me?)

I’m lost when it comes to the Testing Server window.  At the moment I have it set to:
Server model = ASP.NET VB; Access = Local/Network; Testing Server Folder = C:\Inetpub\wwwroot (which I put in on advice when setting up IIS.  However it seems odd to start pointing to a completely different folder than my site root folder, and this makes me anxious that things might start pointing to the wrong folder and stop the website from running.  Am I worrying unnecessarily?)
The URL prefix is very confusing for me and I all my trial options generate messages about it not mapping correctly.  For now I have set it to http://localhost/Database and I have also tried  http://localhost/.  I’ve created a new “Database” folder in both wwwroot and in C:\Users\Liam\NZMaristWebsite\htdocs\ - I put this folder in both places because I’m not really sure where to put it!

I’ve played around with setting up connections, and would prefer to use DSN because I don’t know where to find the provider connection string.

My DSN is called “Marist DB” and in the process of setting it up it appears I now have 2 ‘Sites’ set up, one which is my actual “NZMWeb” and the other which is the connection “Marist DB”.  When I drill down to this connection the tables, views etc. are all empty.  When I try to test the connect the message reads “Operation Cancelled”.

If someone has the time, is it possible to please advise me:

Does it look like everything is set up okay in site definition for my original “NZMWeb”?  I’d hate to have changed something and stopped it connecting!

In order to set up the database connection, I presume I should be working in the “Manage Sites” tab for “MaristDB” (i.e. rather than “NZMWeb”)?

Is “localhost” an abbreviation for C:\Inetpub\wwwroot?

How should I set up the site definition testing server URLs etc. for the MaristDB connection?

I’ve tried following various books and searched the internet for instructions, but still find myself struggling to get this sorted…

Many thanks
Chrissie

[bregent]

You've got a lot of info in there so let's just start with a few items.

>connect to y Access database; and

How much traffic do you expect? Access works great for low volume sites but not very good for higher volume. Consider using MS SQL instead or in the future.

>The website runs off my laptop

What do you mean by this? Are you saying that the site is running fine on your pc locally? Or are you saying that you are hosting the site on your laptop?

>and have chosen to use ASP.

The server model you select says ASP.NET.  Which is it, ASP or ASP.NET.  They are two completely different engines.

>The database is called “Marist.accdb”

I haven't used the accdb format - make sure your host supports this.

>For remote access = “None” (This seems odd to me?)

If remotely hosted, this should be FTP

>and would prefer to use DSN because I don’t

>know where to find the provider connection string.

I prefer to use DSN-less connections - the connection string is easy to build.

[Bramwellc]

Hi there

Thanks for your reply.

I don't expect a high volume of traffic so pretty sure Access would be fine.

I chose ASP.net on reading a book but would happily try SQL if you believe it

would be more suitable.

I am hosting the site on my laptop. I presume this means it is

hosted 'locally' rather than remotely?

Do you know where I would find the connection string for Access using ODBC?

Many thanks again for your help.

Regards

Chrissie

Quoting bregent <forums@adobe.com>:

You've got a lot of info in there so let's just start with a few items.

 

>connect to y Access database; and

 

How much traffic do you expect? Access works great for low volume sites

but not very good for higher volume. Consider using MS SQL instead or in

the future.

 

>The website runs off my laptop

 

What do you mean by this? Are you saying that the site is running fine

on your pc locally? Or are you saying that you are hosting the site on

your laptop?

 

>and have chosen to use ASP.

 

The server model you select says ASP.NET.  Which is it, ASP or

ASP.NET.  They are two completely different engines.

 

>The database is called “Marist.accdb”

 

I haven't used the accdb format - make sure your host supports this.

 

>For remote access = “None” (This seems odd to me?)

 

If remotely hosted, this should be FTP

 

>and would prefer to use DSN because I don’t

>know where to find the provider connection string.

 

I prefer to use DSN-less connections - the connection string is easy to

build.

>

[bregent]

>I chose ASP.net on reading a book but would happily

>try SQL if you believe it would be more suitable.

The choice was ASP vs ASP.NET, not SQL. ASP.NET might be suitable if you have significant programming experience. Otherwise, I would choose ASP over ASP.NET.  And you should probably consider PHP if you are thinking about developing more dynamic sites than just this one.

>I am hosting the site on my laptop.

Do you really think that's a good idea? How much experience do you have with server administration, configuring firewalls, combatting attacks and other security issues? Let someone else host it for a few bucks a month.

>Do you know where I would find the connection string for Access using ODBC?

Why do you want to connect using ODBC? OLEDB is much faster and more stable.

[Bramwellc]

Thanks again for your reply.  Apologies for my delayed response - I'm travelling at the moment so my internet access is sometimes limited.

You suggest I should choose ASP over ASP.NET.  Thanks for this advice, I will do this.  I do have some computer programming experience (albeit rather rusty!) so I have an understanding of some programming language - this may be helpful here.

With regard to hosting the site on my laptop - the laptop is connected to the organisation's network which is managed by an IT company so they deal with all the configuring firewalls, combatting attacks and other security issues.

I chose to connect using ODBC because I don't know where to find the string for OLEDB.

Many thanks

Chrissie

[bregent]

Try this for connection strings:

http://www.connectionstrings.com/access-2007