ODBC
One of the most common methods
to access databases is to use ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity). If you have
direct physical access to the web server, you can register a database in the
System registry by assigning a data source name to it using the ODBC
Administrator from the Control Panel in Windows, as shown in the diagram
below. In many cases however you will not have such access to the web
server. Instead, the service provider may provide you with a control panel
interface that allows you to set-up a data source name.
Once you have created a data
source name it can then be used in your scripts and programs to reference
and access the database. A simple advantage of doing this, instead of
referencing a database by specifying its full path, is that the database
name or location can be changed and no change needs to be made to your code.
The only change that needs to be made is to the data source details.
JDBC
JDBC (Java Database
Connectivity) enables developers to have standard SQL access from their Java
applets and Java applications to databases regardless of the database
product. JDBC is part of the Java Development Kit (JDK) and defines an
application programming interface (API) for Java.
In order to use JSBC, you are
required to have the JDK 1.1, a JDBC driver and your database. It can
sometimes be difficult to find a JDBC driver, but once found JDBC provides
you with a uniform interface to databases. |
