Christopher,
> I do a lot of work with Perl and have decided to see what this PHP is all > about. The best way for me to do that, is to just do a project. Here is what > I am looking to do. I would like to use PHP and the SQL language on a CSV or > Flat File Database. A lot of my work is on unix system that people want to > work with Access. They do not want to pay the extra amount of money fora > MySQL database. The answer to this issue is access with exports to CSV files > for some of the simplier stuff like shopping carts and members and stuff > like that. > Here's the thing, can PHP interact with a flat file databse like perl and > the DBD::CSV? If so can someone point me in the right idrection to get > started. I have a server for development and it now has 4.0 PHP. =When you next change jobs will you be keen to accept a company car that has one wheel permanently removed, has no doors, and is pulling a U-Haul filled with lead bars and raw sewage, topped off with a flag saying "We are the greatest!" ? =Is the outlined task a primary focus of PHP? PHP is renowned for its web orientation (output is HTML), and support of databases to build/run dynamic web sites. Ironically 'dumbing it down' to "simpler stuff[sic]", like removing the fourth wheel from a car, is likely to give you a very stunted/skewed view of the package. =Yes PHP has a library of flat file routines, if you insist on using them. MySQL has the capability to LOAD .csv DATA if that is the specified transfer medium, and would offer full RDBMS speed and dynamism. =Where do the lead bars etc fit in? You mention Unix systems and the Access package, plus CSV file exports. In such an incompatible environment you are hobbling the development project before you start. Again with the result that any system produced will not be representative of what PHP can do. =PHP users talk of "LAMPS" and the PHP Triad (the former is well explained by O'Reilly (the publishers) and Google will supplement my faded memory for a source on the latter). LAMPS is Linux, Apache (web server), MySQL (RDBMS), and PHP. The PHP 'Triad' is the last of those three conveniently packaged together for download/installation. So from this you can take it that PHP was designed to/will work well in any combination of these. =In your example, I fail to perceive success in a Unix-Access combination, but presume you know more than I. The PHP-MySQL combination is proven, and operates at a far more 'industrial scale' than Access (more comparable to MS SQL-Server). In a standard commercial environment I cannot think of a particular service that MySQL under PHP control cannot provide, that Access can - but many pragmatic reasons not to use Access. =You mention "extra money". This may or may not be the case. If it were a comparison between buying Access or buying MySQL then it would be wrong, but if they have already paid for Access then you may be correct. By and large, MySQL is 'free' but MySQL AB will charge for a support contract - but you must check your application against the license terms! You also ask about 'sources'. The best place to start, both to review the licensing and to find links to online sources is the MySQL AB web site. =Get rid of the "we are the greatest" flag, and choose the right tool for the job - or leave the challenge of starting on a PHP/MySQL career until it/they are the 'right' tool/best mix for the client-constraints of your application! =dn -- PHP Database Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To contact the list administrators, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
