[thelist] Form data to office database

[Pieter Roosens]

Thanks very much for this clear explanation Jon!
Although I know the question was still very "general".

What they want is a form on their web site that visitors fill in for  
asking a repair on a device.
The client has a database on their office computer and want to  
somehow "connect" this.
So no "open" database, but I guess they could:
- regularly update from the database on the web site server (by  
FTP?), that we feed with the form.
- or, we let the form data send by email to them and this should be  
processed somehow... into the office database

So, firstly in a few days I will know more after asking these  
questions and discussion, and let you know.
Hope to find some "plug and play" solution ... hmm.

Thanks a lot,
Pieter

Op 9-okt-07, om 05:06 heeft Jon Molesa het volgende geschreven:

> Wow, that's a loaded question.
>
> I believe I'd start with what tools are available to you.  FTP, and  
> some
> automation can certainly achieve given the requirements you listed so
> far.  There are literally hundreds or thousands of ways to shuffle  
> data
> around.  Two things to consider when discussing it with your client  
> are:
>
> 1) What systems, tools, server side scripting, automation tools do  
> they
> already have?
>
> 2) Where is the server/source of the data that is destined for his  
> office
> coming from?
>
> I really don't mean this the way it sounds but the solution is  
> sometimes
> obvious given the answers to the above questions.  If however, they  
> have
> no useful tools to accomplish the job, then ask about the budget.   
> And in
> that case, let me throw out a few tools that can handle the moving of
> data.  You'll need to research them and decide which one would best  
> suit
> your clients needs/budget concerns.
>
> FTP
> Email
> XMLRPC
> XML
>
> Depending on the database and the clients willingness to "open" it to
> the wild, you could publish information directly to it, but I wouldn't
> recommend it.
>
> On a *nix system use cron to automate the transfer and conversion of
> data(assuming there are 2 different database systems).  On Windows use
> batch files or VBS.
>
> You may need to locate a technical consultant to help with these types
> of request.  If you can provide more details, others on here can maybe
> recommend a single tool for the job.  HTH.
>
>
> *On Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 09:30:48PM +0200 Pieter Roosens  
> <pieter at roosensdesign.com> wrote:
>
>> To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
>> From: Pieter Roosens <pieter at roosensdesign.com>
>> Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2007 21:30:48 +0200
>> X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.752.2)
>> Subject: [thelist] Form data to office database
>>
>> Hi Listees,
>>
>> I have a client who wants form data delivered to his database in the
>> office.
>> I will discuss this with his IT people cfr which database, etc..
>>
>> But before, I want to know ... is there a "general" best way to
>> achieve this kind of things?
>> Can anyone point me (designer - non programmer) to the right
>> direction? Or to some tutorials, software, scripts, ...?
>>
>> Thanks a lot,
>> Pieter
>> -- 
> -- 
> Jon Molesa
> rjmolesa at consoltec.net
> if you're bored or curious
> http://rjmolesa.com
> --