Supported document standards and database connections
There are several dynamic document standards and ways of connecting to databases that can be used to implement a database-driven site. Namo WebEditor’s Database Wizard supports several of the most popular combinations of these variables and offers you the choice of which combination to use for your site. From the user’s (site visitor’s) point of view, it does not matter what you choose, since all combinations generate ordinary HTML compatible with all browsers. Your choice of standards depends largely on the software that is installed (or that you are willing to install) on your Web server.
Namo WebEditor supports the following dynamic document standards:
ASP (Active Server Pages)
ASP is Microsoft’s dynamic document standard. ASP support is built into Microsoft’s web server programs, Internet Information Server (IIS) and Personal Web Server (PWS). If your Web server runs one of these programs, you do not need to install additional software to use ASP. Other Web servers can be made to support ASP through the addition of third-party software such as Sun ONE Active Server Pages (http://wwws.sun.com/software/chilisoft/) or Instant ASP (http://www.stryon.com/products.asp?s=1).
Namo WebEditor supports the use of ODBC for connecting to databases from ASP documents.
PHP (PHP Hypertext Preprocessor)
PHP is an open-source Web scripting language maintained by the Apache Software Foundation. PHP support is not built into any Web server program; to use it, you must install the PHP program on your server. The program is free and available for many operating systems; many Linux distributions include PHP as a standard option. Visit http://www.php.net/ for more information.
Namo WebEditor supports the use of the following methods for connecting to databases from PHP documents:
- ODBC (for any ODBC-supporting database)
- Direct TCP/IP connection (only for MySQL databases)
JSP (JavaServer Pages)
JSP is Sun’s dynamic document standard based on the Java programming language. Many Web server programs have built-in support for JSP; others can be made to support it through an add-on engine. See “http://java.sun.com/products/jsp/industry.html” for a list of supporting servers and engines.
Namo WebEditor supports the use of the following methods for connecting to databases from JSP documents:
- ODBC (for any ODBC-supporting database)
- JDBC (for MySQL, IBM DB2, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and other databases)
Namo does not recommend or endorse any particular dynamic document standard, database platform, or Web server platform.
Related topics
Requirements for using the Database Wizard
Setting up an ODBC data source