| by Zak Ruvalcaba IN THIS CHAPTER As you have seen, a database exists for the sole purpose of storing data. Tables exist to separate that data into well-structured and meaningful blocks of information that can be accessed at any time in an ordered manner. Most successful Web sites exist because the information within those sites is relatively easy to access. When you search for a book on Amazon.com, you expect to find it within seconds of being on the site. You type in a book name, click Search, and the results appear in a well-structured and elegant manner. If you visit eBay's Web site in an effort to find that treasure that someone may be auctioning off, you type in the name of the item you are looking for and select a form object, usually a Submit button, to perform the search. It's safe to say that in today's application service provider (ASP) dominated business model, most companies employ some mechanism for allowing their users quick access to the data that powers the company. It's true that the Web took off with the inception of the modern search engine. Companies such as Yahoo, Excite, Google, and Lycos fueled the medium we know as the Web by making the information within the billions of Web sites on the Internet accessible. Employing basic, filtered, and advanced methods of searching, those companies and others powered the Internet to what we know it as today. This chapter focuses on the ability to integrate these access methods into your Web application, specifically providing your users with the capabilities to search for information that they may need within your site. If you have not done so, you can download all the support files for this and other chapters from www.dreamweavermxunleashed.com. |
