Front and Center: Real-world Uses for Databases

Many FrontPage users think that databases are only used for e-commerce sites or other sites that store large amounts of data. In fact, databases are useful on any site where the information being displayed might change from time to time. Databases are also useful for discussion Web sites.

When I started Jimco Add-ins, I used a static HTML page to display all of my add-ins. The maintenance of that page quickly became a nightmare. Whenever I redesigned my Web site, I had to reenter all the content for that page. I often wasn't able to copy and paste the data from the old page because the layout of the new page was different. The solution was to make the page a dynamic database-driven page using ASP and eventually ASP.NET. I was then able to easily update the site and reformat the page without reentering any of the information. I was also able to build a Web page that allows me to add, edit, and delete add-ins from a Web browser so that I can update my add-ins page from any computer with Internet access.

Chances are that your Web site also contains information that gets updated or changed frequently. If it does, you should carefully evaluate whether you should use ASP or ASP.NET to present that information. By doing so, you can allow users of your site to specify the information they want to see and use a database query to pull just that information. You will also be able to easily redesign your site and plug the information into a new page layout with minimal effort.

There are some considerations you should keep in mind. Developing an ASP or ASP.NET Web site takes considerably longer than developing a static HTML Web site. You will also need to make sure that your host supports ASP or ASP.NET, and some hosts might want to charge you an extra fee for that support. Making the move to ASP or ASP.NET requires extra development time and a steeper learning curve, but in the long run the payoff is likely going to be worth the extra effort.



Special Edition Using Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
Special Edition Using Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
ISBN: 0789729547
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 443

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