Which route to choose?

[Lewis_UnderGrad]

Hi guys,

I've been developing basic websites for the past 2 years. Recently, a relative of mine had started a vehicle leasing company and has asked me to create the website for him.

Now the majority of the site will be no problem to create however, as it is vehicle leasing company new data (including) images will need to be uploaded on a regular basis.

I've been thinking about achieving this in number of ways:

1. Using Microsoft Access
2. Using MySQL

As you guys probably have a lot of experience, i would like to know what would be the best way about creating the functionality to upload new vehicle data i.e. price, engine size, colour and image??

Thanks in advance.

[timothybard]

My general rule of thumb is this: if the database is going to be used on a single workstation or a local network and by a relatively few number of people, then use MS Access, but if the database needs to be accessible from a website, then use MySQL.

The reason I use MySQL for websites is because it is a lot easier to connect to MySQL via php. However, I use MS Access for single workstations and for local networks because it is a lot faster to create a database in MS Access. If you use MySQL with php, then in addition to writing out each SQL statement, you will need to spend time designing your form and coding it to display data, etc. MS Access automates that process a lot, but only if you run the database from MS Access (if you connect to a MS Access database via php, you will again have to design each form and code the forms to display data).

[Lewis_UnderGrad]

Hi Timothy,

Originally i thought Access would be the best choice as the system will one be updated by one person.

After reading a number of tutorials on the web i downloaded a project from www.programming.top54u.com. A link to the project can be found here:

http://programming.top54u.com/file.axd?file=AccessImage.rar

I found this small app quite helpful. It allows me to upload images and create a title for them. I can easily modify the code to accept more data i.e. price to hire a vehicle, colour of vehicle..

What do you guys think? Is Access the easiest and simplest way to achieve the desired type of site?

Will deleting records that are already saved be easy to code too?

Thanks.

[dataobjx]

One question is: Will the site be hosted from a hosting vendor or from an on-site server?

And regarding the database... MSAccess is definitely not the way to go... you really should consider a hosted database platform - it costs a bit more but is A) more secure than MSAccess and B) Can handle the traffic.

[Lewis_UnderGrad]

One question is: Will the site be hosted from a hosting vendor or from an on-site server?

And regarding the database... MSAccess is definitely not the way to go... you really should consider a hosted database platform - it costs a bit more but is A) more secure than MSAccess and B) Can handle the traffic.

Hi,

Yup the site will be hosted from a vendor, possibly streamline.net.

Ok, well if you suggested a hosted platform then i guess MySQL is the way to go?

[parkeyparker]

I agree that MySQL would be a good way to go for a website. It is secure and can handle a lot of traffic especially if it is a respectful host.
One thing that I might add is that although you are uploading images of new vehicles may I suggest that you upload the file (in whatever programming language you choose) to a directory and then store the URI to that image in the database. This is because some hosts limit size of storage in databases and it will make reading and writing to the database a lot faster and less processor intensive.
I hope this helps.
ParkeyParker

[timothybard]

Yes; first of all, MySQL is supported by many hosting companies. Secondly, if it is web based, then you lose any benefits to using Access. I would say MS Access's benefits really only come into play for databases on a single computer or local network.

[Lewis_UnderGrad]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all your replies, they've been very helpful. I've decided to go down the MySQL route as i've always wanted to learn to use MySQL with .Net.

I've visited the dev.mysql website and have downloaded version 5.0. During the final stage of the installation process i am presented with the following error:

[IMG]http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh179/v1raj/Misc/MySQLInstallError.jpg[/IMG]

The only firewall'like program i am running is Avira. Is there a way to configure Avira to open port 3306? I have tried turnning Avira off whilst installing too..

Thanks

[jsommerv]

Just a few thoughts for you now that you have chosen MYSql. First, if you need a good tool to maintain the MYSql Database as a Administrator, try HeidiSQL. You can find it here for free: http://www.heidisql.com/download.php?

Also, I use both Access and MySql. Sometimes I develop the database design in Access, then I create a ODBC link to the MySQL database and upload / download data AND database schema very easily. Once it is uploaded to MySql I rarely need to make any changes. So if your familiar with Access, this might make the transition easier for you. Good Luck.

[Lewis_UnderGrad]

thanks for the advice, will have a look at that... But first i need to successfully install MySQL..

Does anybody know how to fix the issue described above???

Thanks.

[Teme64]

The only firewall'like program i am running is Avira. Is there a way to configure Avira to open port 3306? I have tried turnning Avira off whilst installing too..

AFAIK you need that (default) port open later too. I believe you do have some firewall, maybe Windows Firewall. That's where you have to make a "hole" for port 3306. If you don't have any firewall at all, forget installing MySQL and install a firewall first. There are good freeware versions from ZoneAlarm, Comodo etc. Otherwise you have a worm can ;)

You did download Community Edition, right? Have you read the MySQL Documentation, at least the documentation for the installation?

If you still can't install MySQL, try MySQL Forums. And when you ask your question, remember to state MySQL version, OS version and which firewall you're using.

[Lewis_UnderGrad]

Managed to fully install MySQL last night.

I uninstalled the program and then manually deleted the folders that were created during the installation (i noticed that these folders were not removed after i uninstalled it).

Restarted the machine and the installation went through without any problems. =)

Thanks for the advice.

So, here is what i have installed so far:

MySQL v5.0.82
MySQL GUI v5.0
MySQL Connector-Net v6.0.3

I have created a database and am using the following guide to try and connect the DB to my wep app:

http://www.15seconds.com/issue/050210.htm

I'll let you know how i get on..

(If anyone knows of any other tutorials please feel free to add.)

[Teme64]

Without knowing your experience with DBs and SQL, here's two SQL tutorials:
SQL Tutorial
SQL Tutorial - Learn SQL

You may also find VbMySQL Forums useful.

And of course, MySQL's documentations and forums are worth checking.

[Lewis_UnderGrad]

Thanks for the tutorial's, i've found them quite useful!

However, what i was asking for is if anyone has any tutorials showing how to connect a MySQL db to a VB.Net web app. I've been using the tutorial below as a guide:

http://www.15seconds.com/issue/050210.htm

But have encountered a number of errors.

My aspx page:

<%@ Page Language="VB" AutoEventWireup="false" CodeFile="Default.aspx.vb" Inherits="_Default" Debug="true" %>

<%@ Import Namespace = "System.Data" %>
<%@ Import Namespace = "MySql.Data.MySqlClient" %>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
<head runat="server">
    <title>MySQL Connection Test</title>
</head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">
    <div>
        MySQL Connection Test<br />
        <br />
        <asp:GridView ID="MySQLGridView" runat="server"></asp:GridView>
    </div>
        

    </form>
</body>
</html>

My aspx.vb page:

Partial Class _Default
    Inherits System.Web.UI.Page

    Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)

        Dim myConnection As MySqlConnection
        Dim myDataAdapter As MySqlDataAdapter
        Dim myDataSet As DataSet

        Dim strSQL As String
        Dim iRecordCount As Integer

        myConnection = New MySqlConnection("server=localhost; user id=15secs; password=password; database=mydatabase; pooling=false;")

        strSQL = "SELECT * FROM mytable;"

        myDataAdapter = New MySqlDataAdapter(strSQL, myConnection)
        myDataSet = New Dataset()
        myDataAdapter.Fill(myDataSet, "mytable")

        MySQLGridView.DataSource = myDataSet
        MySQLGridView.DataBind()


    End Sub

End Class

Errors Produced:

1. Type 'MySqlConnection' is not defined. (Default.aspx.vb)

2. Type 'MySqlDataAdapter' is not defined. (Default.aspx.vb)

3. Type 'DataSet' is not defined. (Default.aspx.vb)

4. Warning - Namespace or type specified in the Imports 'MySql.Data.MySqlClient' doesn't contain any public member or cannot be found. Make sure the namespace or the type is defined and contains at least one public member. Make sure the imported element name doesn't use any aliases. (Default.aspx)

[Teme64]

I don't do ASP.NET but you could check that you have set a reference (Project/Properties) to .NET Connector and you do have Imports <namespace> statement.