ok basicaly iv been practiceing a few bits an bobs on a website and the base of what iv been doing it for it show certain databases. I'v still not a clue how it works but the database format is Borland paradox format. I want to transfer this database to excel is some way without having to retype it up. Any clue on how to do this? The only program i can get it to open up in is DB commander.

I might not of been clear on some things. So if you think u might be able to help in any way please don't fail to ask on any info of it that u might need 🙂

thnx for reading

    Hi Buggy

    Are you sure you want to transfer your DB to Excel? Excel isn't a DB at all, it's a CSV format, or spreadsheet if you want to call it that.

    Could it be that you mean Access? Access is a real DB. I hate it because it uses proprietary (MS) SQL syntax and doesn't have an online Access-SQL manual, at least not one that I can find. However, PHP is cabable of using Access via ODBC. You won't find a hosting package with PHP/Access, but if you're planning to have a root or virtual server based on Windows Server 2003, then it's a viable option.

    Are you thinking of Excel because you want to dump your DB to CSV? If that is so, then, yes, you can do that. I have never even heard of Borland Paradox, but it must support some sort of dump command. You can probably export to a default CSV (.txt). Excel supports import from TXT.

    Did all that answer any of your questions?

    Norm

      well im far fron a expert of this stuff, but i did find out how to export the db content to a excel sheet.
      The problem is im trying to make this db editable from a web page without really any knowledge of SQL or MySQL.

      From what i gather MySQL is a db and SQL is a add on to a db (correct me if im wrong)

      I don't believe the db format is surported by SQL,

      It's hard to put into words but ill start from the top...

      I have a db at the moment with all that i need with my info.
      I want other people to be able to add to this db from a website.
      And i want the info that they put in to show up on the db which i have on my computer without editing the format of the db.

      The bit of code that iv found out so far might be a bit random but it is:

      INSERT INTO StdItems.db ( Idx,Name,Stdmode,Shape,Weight,Anicount,Source,Reserved,Looks,DuraMax,Ac,Ac2,Mac,Mac2,Dc,Dc2,Mc,Mc2,Sc,Sc2,Need,NeedLevel,Price,Stock ) VALUES ( 0,'book(quest1)',41,0,1,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0 );

      I'm sorry if this isnt clear. This does'nt seem the same problem as befor , but i realised what i need to do more or less to add this function....
      If this still isnt clear i havn't a clue how to explain in one go

      Thnx for the reply 😉

        SQL is Structured Query Language, a common (mostly) way to address DBs between all the different vendors. From a quick google, Paradox does support SQL

        You will likely need to use PHPs ODBC interface to access it

        There are three basic sql commands that you will need to learn
        1. select * from table [where condition]
        2. insert into table (field list) values('$val1','$val2','$valN')
        3. update table set fieldname='$somevalue'

          Hi Buggy

          Just recovering from the excesses of Christmas Day. Let's look at this slowly:

          1. You say you have a DB on your own computer and that this DB is Borland Paradox.

          2. You want other people to be able to add to / edit the content of the DB remotely, i.e. via HTTP.

          I see one problem here - the DB is on your home computer. If you want people to be able to access the DB remotely, you will have to host it on a web server and publicise the IP. You CAN do that from your own home. There are one or two issues to be considered though: i) You can't ever switch off your computer, or at least you shouldn't; and, more importantly, ii) Hosting your own website from home means getting up to speed about a plethora of system and security issues and paying for bandwidth. I'm not sure if that's what you want to do. I suspect not.

          What you want to do, I am led to believe, is rent some cheap webspace (prices of around 5-7 euros or dollars per month for a shared hosting package are now commonplace) which includes PHP and a DB. The standard DB in PHP hosting is MySQL. I doubt very much if you'll find any companies offering Borland Paradox. However, as Bastien has discovered, Paradox is an SQL-based DB, which means you can dump your DB and load the data up to a remote MySQL DB. You might have to adjust the syntax very slightly. Problem solved.

          You then have to create a website with a form which allows users to add to / edit your MySQL DB. The SQL statements required are relatively easy to learn. I personally recommend the new MySQLi interface offered by PHP5. It offers added security through prepared statements and bound parameters. You don't know what that means yet, but you will find it easy to understand. You should look for this when considering a hosting company.

          As far as I can see from your questions, the Excel-export issue is irrelevant. Correct me if I'm wrong.

          If you have any more questions, fire away. The only thing I'm not prepared to do is recommend a hosting company. There are millions of them and it depends where you live and what you want. I do, however, strongly recommend installing Apache, MySQL and PHP on your home computer so that you can learn quickly and don't have to FTP to a remote website every 5 minutes in order to find out if your code works. Installing WAMP (Apache, MySQL and PHP on Win32) is easy. Installing LAMP (Apache, MySQL and PHP on Linux) is a bit trickier, but I suspect you're using Windows, right?

          Best o luck

          Norm

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