Hi,

I have a two week deadline to complete a new project which I have little experience in. I have been asked to create a database accessible through a web application.

The web application will be used to update, delete and add new data to the database. A maximum of 20 users will use the application at any one time.

A few people from my organisation have advised me to use Microsoft Access and coldfusion.

Can anyone out there advise me of any other possible solutions? And the advantages and disadvantages of these solutions. How about security issues and costing?

Also, a few people have mentioned there may be problems with concurrent usage of Access. Would this still be the case if the database is modified via the web application instead of direct contact?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank You

Hi there Sam-

I can't speak too in depth about access, but I can tell you that I have used mysql via phpmyadmin and have had good results. I think CF would be a good starting place for you esp if you do not have much db exp. My suggestion would be to pick up ColdFusion mx by Ben Forta, there is a good step by step guide in there for setting up a web app to do what you want.

As for problems with concurrent usage, it is possible that two users can be modifying the same record at the same time (not likely) but you can lock that from happening (also in the Ben Forta book).

Hope this helps, please let us know how it is going.

hey bkendall,

Thanks heaps for your advice. Can you tell me what database applications coldfusion can be used with at all?

Sam.x.

Sam-

You can use:
SQL
mySQL
Access
Oracle
SyBase


and I am sure there are probably a couple of others that would work as well.

All of the solutions thus far seem to pertain to Coldfusion, but you could also use PHP or ASP if your webserver supported them. Some people say that Coldfusion is the best programming language for novice developers, but I would program in PHP anyway due to its modular nature.

Also for scalability I would not use Access as a database, at my company we just realized how slow Access becomes at around 500 entries, and we are currently upgrading all of our databases to SQL. MySQL is a good free solution as well.

Good Luck,
ProFreelance