Re: [Hampshire] Simple Database apps

2013-05-15 Thread Richard Bensley
Heh, I just went through this tutorial, that was a doddle!
http://www.speqmath.com/tutorials/couchdb_tasklist/index.html


On 15 May 2013 21:41, Richard Bensley  wrote:

>
>> I am not a programmer, but I can fudge things when I try. Some simple C
>> or Python is not a problem, but I always hit a wall when it comes to UI.
>> Seems there is lots of code required to build and operate the interface. So
>> really, I want something like Python or PHP, and a really simple UI
>> construction like HTML/CSS.
>>  --
>>
>
> In that case then what you want is a RESTful interface to a simple
> database.
>
> CouchDB is a tiny document database with an HTTP restful interface and
> simple management interface all done in a web browser on your local machine.
>
> Using any language or tool that can use simple HTTP GET/PUT commands, you
> can construct a dataset and read from it. Javascript, Python, Ruby, PHP,
> even curl can do this right now for you.
>
> With CouchDB and Javascript you can create a database with a simple
> interface all in HTML.
>
> Here is a little intro:
> http://guide.couchdb.org/draft/tour.html
>
> here is the RESTful api documentation:
> http://wiki.apache.org/couchdb/
>
>
> OR LibreOffice base, which has it's own database format, you can also
> connect to various other databases including SQLite (using an ODBC driver).
>
> Rich
>
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Re: [Hampshire] Simple Database apps

2013-05-15 Thread Tim Brocklehurst
On Wednesday 15 May 2013 20:57:47 Peter Collins wrote:
> Hi Phil
> 
> On 15 May 2013 19:13, Philip Stubbs  wrote:
> > My question is, what can I use that will be no more complicated
> > than PHP/HTML, will run on Windows /Cygwin, and be available on Linux
> > too? Ideally for my simple database type app,
> 
> Also have you thought about LibreOffice Base? that would be cover on
> Windows and Linux.
> 
> Rgds
> 
> Peter.

I would seriously consider running a MySQL DB (standalone, no Apache or PHP) 
and then front-ending with Access over ODBC or LibreOffice.

I recently did an Access front-end and it wasn't too bad. I'm not saying it 
was a pleasurable experience, but I got through it without gouging my eyes 
out.

LibreOffice Base was similar the last time I used it. It has a few nice touches 
like being able to change the DB Schema from LOB; And of course, it's cross-
platform, so a little less lock-in.

Both Access and LOB take a bit of learning, but they are both very capable 
packages.

Cheers,

Tim B.
-- 
Hampshire Linux User Group Chairman

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Re: [Hampshire] Simple Database apps

2013-05-15 Thread Richard Bensley
>
>
> I am not a programmer, but I can fudge things when I try. Some simple C or
> Python is not a problem, but I always hit a wall when it comes to UI. Seems
> there is lots of code required to build and operate the interface. So
> really, I want something like Python or PHP, and a really simple UI
> construction like HTML/CSS.
>  --
>

In that case then what you want is a RESTful interface to a simple database.

CouchDB is a tiny document database with an HTTP restful interface and
simple management interface all done in a web browser on your local machine.

Using any language or tool that can use simple HTTP GET/PUT commands, you
can construct a dataset and read from it. Javascript, Python, Ruby, PHP,
even curl can do this right now for you.

With CouchDB and Javascript you can create a database with a simple
interface all in HTML.

Here is a little intro:
http://guide.couchdb.org/draft/tour.html

here is the RESTful api documentation:
http://wiki.apache.org/couchdb/


OR LibreOffice base, which has it's own database format, you can also
connect to various other databases including SQLite (using an ODBC driver).

Rich
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Re: [Hampshire] Simple Database apps

2013-05-15 Thread James Bensley
On 15 May 2013 20:17, Philip Stubbs  wrote:
> This is a simple single user database similar to what someone may create in
> Access to keep some records.

What ever you choose, I would highly recommend against Access, simply
because it isn't portable. You will be making you data much more
difficult to move around and access unless you can ensure otherwise.

Cheers,
James.

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Re: [Hampshire] Simple Database apps

2013-05-15 Thread Peter Collins
Hi Phil

On 15 May 2013 19:13, Philip Stubbs  wrote:
> My question is, what can I use that will be no more complicated
> than PHP/HTML, will run on Windows /Cygwin, and be available on Linux too?
> Ideally for my simple database type app,

Also have you thought about LibreOffice Base? that would be cover on
Windows and Linux.

Rgds

Peter.

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Re: [Hampshire] Simple Database apps

2013-05-15 Thread Peter Collins
Hi Phil

On 15 May 2013 19:13, Philip Stubbs  wrote:
> What I would rather do is use something like Sqlite for the database, and then
> create a simple UI with something as simple as PHP/HTML.
>

Have a look at AutoIt, I haven't used it for a while but I'm sure it
will work with SQLite and give you what you want on a Windows
platform.

http://www.autoitscript.com

However this would give you a windows only solution :(

Rgds

Peter.

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Re: [Hampshire] Simple Database apps

2013-05-15 Thread Keith Edmunds
On Wed, 15 May 2013 20:17:15 +0100, phi...@stuphi.co.uk said:

> I want something like Python or PHP, and a really simple UI
> construction like HTML/CSS.

I don't know how well it will fit what you want, but I use
http://www.web2py.com/ for database-backed web applications. There's some
pretty good tutorials and videos to get you started.
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Re: [Hampshire] Simple Database apps

2013-05-15 Thread Philip Stubbs
On 15 May 2013 19:56, Richard Bensley  wrote:

> As James mentioned you can run the Apache/MySQL/PHP stack on windows.
> Which is a great solution.
>
> Mysql, PHP, and Apache are all cross compiled to run natively on most
> platforms.
>
> WAMP server currently provide the whole stack at 64bits!
> http://www.wampserver.com/en/#wampserver-64-bits
>

It is a good solution, just not what I want. I don't want to have to run
and maintain two sophisticated apps, just for one simple db.

This is a simple single user database similar to what someone may create in
Access to keep some records. What I need to do is keep a record of some
tests that I do at work. I could use access, but I don't want to. I could
just create a table in Excel or other spreadsheet, but that would be
horrible.

I am not a programmer, but I can fudge things when I try. Some simple C or
Python is not a problem, but I always hit a wall when it comes to UI. Seems
there is lots of code required to build and operate the interface. So
really, I want something like Python or PHP, and a really simple UI
construction like HTML/CSS.

I don't know if there really is an answer, but I thought I would put it out
there in case I have missed something.

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Philip Stubbs
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Re: [Hampshire] Simple Database apps

2013-05-15 Thread Richard Bensley
As James mentioned you can run the Apache/MySQL/PHP stack on windows. Which
is a great solution.

Mysql, PHP, and Apache are all cross compiled to run natively on most
platforms.

WAMP server currently provide the whole stack at 64bits!
http://www.wampserver.com/en/#wampserver-64-bits

If that's not do-able. IIS can actually run PHP nowadays. I don't know what
database libraries are available for PHP on IIS, but sqlite can be accessed
via ODBC.

Rich


On 15 May 2013 19:13, Philip Stubbs  wrote:

> In the past, I have created simple apps that store data in a Mysql
> database, and are accessed with some simple PHP forms. I found this simple.
> intuitive and quite successful.
>
> Now I have a requirement again for something similar at
> work. Unfortunately, we only run Windows. The obvious solution would be to
> use Microsoft Access. It will certainly do what I want, but I don't really
> want to spend the time learning it.
>
> Running apache/mysql/php for my own needs seems a bit of a pain. What I
> would rather do is use something like Sqlite for the database, and then
> create a simple UI with something as simple as PHP/HTML.
>
> I know that there are a ton of scripting / programming languages that
> could be used. My question is, what can I use that will be no more
> complicated than PHP/HTML, will run on Windows /Cygwin, and be available on
> Linux too? Ideally for my simple database type app, I want no more than one
> file for the data, and another for the app.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> --
> Philip Stubbs
>
> --
> Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk
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>
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Re: [Hampshire] Simple Database apps

2013-05-15 Thread James Bensley
There is a solution to your problems that meets all your requirements,
that I can think of;

Download Xampp for Windows from the following URL;

http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html

It is a single installer that installs Apache, MySQL and PHP (and an
FTP server) with phpMyAdmin so you have a GUI to manage the MySQL
database.

Cheers,
James.

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[Hampshire] Simple Database apps

2013-05-15 Thread Philip Stubbs
In the past, I have created simple apps that store data in a Mysql
database, and are accessed with some simple PHP forms. I found this simple.
intuitive and quite successful.

Now I have a requirement again for something similar at
work. Unfortunately, we only run Windows. The obvious solution would be to
use Microsoft Access. It will certainly do what I want, but I don't really
want to spend the time learning it.

Running apache/mysql/php for my own needs seems a bit of a pain. What I
would rather do is use something like Sqlite for the database, and then
create a simple UI with something as simple as PHP/HTML.

I know that there are a ton of scripting / programming languages that could
be used. My question is, what can I use that will be no more complicated
than PHP/HTML, will run on Windows /Cygwin, and be available on Linux too?
Ideally for my simple database type app, I want no more than one file for
the data, and another for the app.

Any suggestions?

-- 
Philip Stubbs
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