HTML forms--database backends: 

I am interested in a straightforward way of handling data entered by
website users into an HTML form. Where exactly does the user-entered
data go onto my server? Do I have to use ASP or Perl or CGI, or can I
do it with HTML and an MS Access database? F-Maker Pro? MySQL, SQL
Server, I have no idea, I'd like some advantages/disadvantages of
different methods.

I'd like a solution befitting a small organization (75 employees).
Also, the actual website is hosted by a web-hosting company, so I
don't know exactly what their servers are running yet, so I can't
answer that. We also run a mirror of the live website on the local
Intranet.

For any solution, please provide exactly what would need to be
implemented and how--if need Perl--then what version of Perl, where to
get it, how much does it cost, and how to install it?

I'm intersted in the simplest possible solution. These forms aren't
for secure credit card tansactions, just feedback forms to obtain
voluntary marketing info about our visitors. Very simple, 1 page
forms. Sample code will most likely be required for satisfactory answers.

---

Request for Question Clarification by snapanswer-ga on 01 Aug 2002 21:01 PDT

Depending upon the simplicity of the forms and number of visitor forms
you expect, you may simply want the form data to be emailed to a
person or group of people (one of whom tabulates the data).  That
would bypass the need for a database.  (Typically, this type of script
will generate a "flat file" that can be imported into a database, if
that's important to you).

The choice of database, such as MySQL, SQL, FileMaker, or Access, is
most likely dependant upon what your organization has standardized on
or what your web host will provide.  They will all work fine.

Whether you choose Perl, CGI, ASP, PHP, or something else to
communicate between your web server and your database will depend upon
the operating system of your web host's web server and then by your
preference.

Do you have a preference?  If you indicate who your web hosting
company is, the researcher answering will be able to provide choices
from what you have available.

Whichever the choice is, free scripts to process forms are typically
available.  If we can narrow some of the factors, a more precise and
helpful answer can be provided.

Hello, omniscientbeing:

   There are many ways to do what you want, so I'm going to answer it
from my personal experience as web application developer, first I'm
going to answer all your questions and then suggest you how you can do
it.
   
Q. Do I have to use ASP or Perl or CGI, or can I do it with HTML and
an MS Access database?
A. You must use a server-enabled language like ASP, Perl, ColdFusion,
JSP, CGI or PHP. HTML is not powerful enough to store information on a
database. HTML will be used only to show/ask information to the user
of your forms, that is, the interface of your application. You must
have code running on your server which will take the user input and
store it on a database.

Q. Where exactly does the user-entered data go onto my server?   
A. There are many ways to store the user-entered data, but the most
common and convenient way is to use a database, you create tables to
store data and when user post the form, you must write all this data
into a table.

Q. I'd like some advantages/disadvantages of different methods.
A. In the following links you will get information of comparisons
between languages and databases, my conclusion is below.

Scripting language
------------------
Active Web Sites and Comparison of Scripting Languages
http://training.gbdirect.co.uk/courses/perl/comparison_php_versus_perl_vs_asp_jsp_vs_vbscript_web_scripting.html?format=pf

Scripting comparisons
http://4guysfromrolla.aspin.com/home/references/scriptin2?cob=4guysfromrolla

Server-Side Scripting Shootout
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/99/46/index1a.html

PHP Usage Stats for June 2002
http://www.php.net/usage.php

Databases
---------
Open Source Databases Comparison: MySQL, PostSQL and mSQL
http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reviews/204/1/

"MiniSQL or mSQL is a lightweight database engine designed to provide
fast access to stored data with low memory requirements. MySQL is
slightly more sophisticated in the features it has available and is
faster than mSQL but uses more memory. PostSQL uses more memory still
and it is slower but it is much richer in features."

MySQL Benchmarks
http://www.mysql.com/information/benchmarks.html

MySQL and PostgreSQL Compared
http://www.phpbuilder.com/columns/tim20000705.php3

Conclusion
----------
PHP is the winner in most aspects, it costs nothing, runs everywhere,
has a really fast access to databases and is used by millions
developers worldwide, this is my choice for you to use as server-side
language. MySQL is also free, runs on a variety of platforms, is fast
and PHP+MySQL is the perfect combination. In fact, there's a term to
describe this perfect combination LAMP = Linux + Apache + MySQL + PHP.
There's a lot of ready-made scripts to manage simple data entry forms.

PHP
http://www.php.net

Latest version of PHP
http://www.php.net/downloads.php

The PHP installation procedure depends on which operating system and
web server you use.

MySQL
http://www.mysql.com/

Downloads for the 3.23 version
http://www.mysql.com/downloads/mysql-3.23.html

The MySQL installation procedure depends on which operating system you
use.

Hot Scripts : PHP : Scripts and Programs : Form Processors
http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/Scripts_and_Programs/Form_Processors/

By the way, you should use all the information I posted to choose the
best method that suits your needs better and you can ask for any
clarification. Bear in mind, this is a really huge question, so I ask
you to decide for a method and later I will help you to get what you
want, create data entry forms and store the information on databases.

Regards.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by omniscientbeing-ga on 05 Aug 2002 11:51 PDT

OK, I have narrowed my requirements for this project. Thank you for
the background information provided thus far.

I'm going to set up a test server on the intranet to test a system for
HTML form processing. The server OS is Linux RedHat 7, with Apache
Server. I am going to go with MySQL as the database, and would like to
use Perl (version?) as the communicator between the web server and the
database.

Given these specifics, can you outline for me the steps of installing
the Perl and MySQL so that all I need to do is begin scripting in Perl
and coding my HTML forms?

---

Clarification of Answer by joseleon-ga on 05 Aug 2002 23:34 PDT

Hello:

MySQL and Perl come with Red Hat Linux 7, check out this list:

Red Hat Linux 7.3 Package List
http://www.redhat.com/software/linux/pl_rhl.html

The latest version of Perl is 5.8.0, but I recommend you to install
the package on your distribution, to check out if it's already
installed, use this command:
 
rpm -q perl

If it's not installed I recommend you to use your current Red Hat
Linux 7 distribution and install that version, it's the easiest way
and for what you want you don't need the latest version, if you want
to install it by your self, follow this process:

ActivePerl
http://www.activestate.com/Products/Download/Register.plex?id=ActivePerl

Active Perl is a distribution of Perl, you can find it conveniently
packaged in an RPM package, download it from this link:

ActivePerl 5.6.1
http://downloads.activestate.com/ActivePerl/Linux/5.6/ActivePerl-5.6.1.633-i686-linux.rpm

After download this package, login as root on your machine and type
this command:

rpm -i ActivePerl-5.6.1.633-i686-linux.rpm

This process could not succeed if you don't have the neccesary
packages, review this list and install all the required packages
before.

MySQL also comes with Red Hat Linux 7, so I recommend you again to
install it using your distribution, if not:

MySQL downloads
http://www.mysql.com/downloads/mysql-3.23.html

MySQL 3.23.51Server (i386) (14.1M)
http://www.mysql.com/Downloads/MySQL-3.23/MySQL-3.23.51-1.i386.rpm

MySQL 3.23.51Client programs (i386) (5.2M)
http://www.mysql.com/Downloads/MySQL-3.23/MySQL-client-3.23.51-1.i386.rpm

To make all this work, I recommend you to read this great article
about Perl, it teaches you all you need to know
http://perl.about.com/library/weekly/aa060101a.htm?PM=ss13_perl

Don't forget to follow the links on the left of this page, specially
this

Beginning Perl Tutorials
http://perl.about.com/cs/beginningperl/

I hope this clarification is what you were looking for.

Regards.

Thanks for your help. I realize that it was a broad question with many
possible answers.
~omniscientbeing-ga

Hello:

This answer will really depend on your hosting environment and your
goals for the feedback you receive. There are many, many easy ways to
accomplish your task but the advantages of any particular method are
outweighed by going with whatever is already in place at your hosting
company. More specifically:

1. NT or Linux/UNIX server? 

2. Any server side technologies already installed? (ASP, PHP, Cold
Fusion, PERL, etc.)

3. Do you have access to a database? (Access, SQL, MySQL)

Also, think about what you want to do with the feedback. You said you
are interested in the simplest solution: it is MUCH simpler to have
the form send the feedback directly to an email address - no need to
grab it off the server from a database. If you DO need to store the
feedback in a database for some reason, then you add another layer of
complexity and you need to think about how you will access that data.
If it is in Access or something similar, you could simply grab a copy
of the db periodically. Otherwise you will need to think about
creating a display layer that allows you to read your feedback via a
Web browser, or creating an "export" tool that outputs the info to a
file.

To make a long story short, there are dozens of methods availble for
collecting feedback from a Web form but it is impossible to say what
is "best" for you without knowing more about your hosting company (do
you have the name?) or your goals for the data.

Some of the larger hosting providers now offer use of a database on
their servers, which stores the data for download at your convenience.
 This is an option I'd recommend to smaller businesses who don't want
to develop an entire database hookup themselves.  It's a bump up from
the basic form-to-email because it saves them the trouble of manually
converting all their emails into database entries.  Your monthly
hosting charges would probably increase for the enhanced feature but
insignificantly compared to the development option.