Chapter 6. The Database API

Functions in the Database API let you manage database connections and access information that is stored in databases. The Database API is divided by two distinct purposes: managing and accessing database connections.

In managing database connections, you can get the user name and password needed to make a connection to a database, open up a database connection dialog box, and so on.

In accessing database information, you can, for example, retrieve metadata that describes the schema or structure of a database. This metadata includes information such as the names of tables, columns, stored procedures, and views. You can also show the results of executing a database query or stored procedure. When accessing a database through this API, you use structured query language (SQL) statements.

Database API functions are used at design time when users are building web applications, not at runtime when the web application is deployed.

You can use these functions in any extension. In fact, the Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 Server Behavior, Data Format, and Data Sources API functions all use these database functions.