my domain / server hosting provider charges extra for MySQL Db's, but i get one ODBC connection for free. I have a couple of questions regarding this issue.
first, where might i go to really learn what "ODBC" means, why MS Access works as an ODBC datasource, and how it all relates to PHP as a server-side scripting language? (please don't send me to the http://us3.php.net/odbc_connect because i've already read that, and it doesn't really answer my question).
second, does anyone know of any sample scripts, or tutorials in which PHP uses an .mdb file as a datasource?
thank you! i realize that MySQL is preferred, but i just want to give this a shot and see what i come up with. i would simply use ColdFusion (as i have in the past to take advantage of the "free" ODBC connection ), but i'd really much rather move forward with PHP, and i think it will be interesting to explore this territory.
maybe i'm trying to walk a dead-end street, in hopes that i'll get somewhere? is my idea a waste of time? should i simply purchase the MySQL db and be done with it? i'm curious to hear how you might respond to those questions. thanks for humoring me!
