Perl - Working with Databases

In a Nutshell - CIW Course Section 2, Part B3, Chapter 7

Introduction

I have deviated, considerably, from the course notes for this chapter, as I felt the course was just going over old ground. So I shall use this page to introduce you to the MySQL administrative tools. These can be downloaded from the MySQL site.

MySQL Administrator

I find this the easiest tool to use for creating the tables and indexes in a database. It can be used to add a new database to the Catalogue, but this only applies when working with a locally hosted database. If you are dealing with an ISP hosted database the likelihood is that you will have one database only. You can create as many tables in this database as you like.

MySQL Query Browser

This tool allows you to execute SQL scripts directly against your database. It is useful for testing connectivity and making minor updates to the data. It is, however, not terribly practical for large-scale populating of the database.

MyODBC

MyODBC is a Windows database driver that allows you to create an ODBC data source from the Windows control panel. This can then be utilised by bespoke programs, or Windows programs like Microsoft Access, to transfer larger quantities of data to your MySQL database. Like the main utilities, this driver will connect to a local MySQL database or to your Web hosted database.

Installing

A point I discovered, after much trial and error, is that these software packages use the Microsoft Installer to install themselves. Microsoft Installer will not, or does not on my network, install from a network share. You must copy the installation file to a local drive before running it. After that it's plain sailing.