Updating remote MySQL databases

[John Dann]

Trying to teach myself some database programming under VB.Net so
apologies if this is something of a newbie question:

Having succeeded in getting some local database programs working OK
I'm now interested in a slightly more ambitious project to maintain a
remote database on a web server. But looking around, the most
inexpensive option for an amateur web database seems typically to be
to use MySQL, which raises two questions:

1. I want to be able to update the remote database automatically and
at frequent intervals from my own local program. I can think of two
ways of doing this: (i) To update the remote database directly eg with
a locally generated update dataset; (ii) To maintain a local database
(Access might be the easiest option) and find a mechanism to
synchronise the remote database with the local one. Anyone have any
comments on the pros/cons of these two approaches?

2. How much of a problem would I be setting myself by opting to use
MySQL as the remote database rather than eg Access or SQL Server? Are
there any ado.net interfaces to MySQL databases for example?

Any comments or links to webpages dealing with these issues would be
much appreciated.

JGD

 

[Cor Ligthert]

John,

Or just a webservice.

See this walkthrough to get an idea.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d...atingDistributedWebApplicationWalkthrough.asp

(By the way, in my opinion are you making from two total different questions
one)

What database you use is not important in this, however depends more how
many (concurrent) users you have, how much data it will holds, how
frequently it will be used.

And than you can give us a reason why you want to use MySQL above MSDE or
MS-Access or SQL Server.

I hope this helps?

Cor

 

[John Dann]

See this walkthrough to get an idea.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d...atingDistributedWebApplicationWalkthrough.asp

Thanks - I'll look at that and digest.

What database you use is not important in this, however depends more how
many (concurrent) users you have, how much data it will holds, how
frequently it will be used.

And than you can give us a reason why you want to use MySQL above MSDE or
MS-Access or SQL Server.

OK, well the background is that the application is likely to be used
mostly by private individuals who want to make available and
automatically update their own data via a website database. The
cheapest/commonest type of database available for websites hosted on
shared commercial hosting services (which is typically the only option
for individuals with a limited budget) is MySQL. There's often no
option for the user to host their preferred database tool, but they
must use what is provided by default, ie MySQL.

So the question reduces (for what is admittedly a distinct category of
users from perhaps the more familiar one of commercial enterprises or
individuals competent to run their own server) to what can I do with
MySQL. Approaching the problem from the more obvious question of what
are my database requirements and then deciding on the most appropriate
tool is a luxury that typically isn't available.

JGD

 

[Cor Ligthert]

John,

This was one of the reasons I expected.

What you are writing now about MySQL, makes it as far as I know as well
often impossible to run ASPNET programs on those servers and with that
ADONET.

Therefore I would first search if the places you want to use makes the last
possible.

Just my thought,

Cor

 

[John Dann]

This was one of the reasons I expected.

What you are writing now about MySQL, makes it as far as I know as well
often impossible to run ASPNET programs on those servers and with that
ADONET.

OK let me just clarify further what I'm aiming to do because it's
narrower than you might perhaps have thought. The scenario is a
WinForms program locally and a MySQL database on a remote server that
I want to maintain with the WinForms program. The scope of the project
doesn't involve writing any ASP.Net etc to deliver web pages on the
remote server, that would probably be done with PHP or whatever. All
that I'm asking about is how to maintain the remote MySQL database
from a local ado.net program, nothing more.

I just sort of imagined that I could send some SQL-type commands in
the appropriate dialect down the TCP/IP connection from my local PC to
the remote server, irrespective of the operating system running the
server or whether it explicitly supports ado.net. Am I wrong about
this? Are you implying that the remote server needs to be running some
ado.net modules?

Thanks
JGD

 

[Cor Ligthert]

John,

You can forget than my suggestion about a webservice. Your connection is
than over Internet directly to the database. It should be done using the
connections string. How that is done, expecially with MySQL, that is not my
stuff.

However I have searched the newsgroups for your question and saw answers,
maybe you can look yourself.

http://groups-beta.google.com/groups?q=internet+connectionstring+mysql&qt_s=Search+Groups

I hope this helps something,

Cor

 

[Cor Ligthert]

John,

I think that your answer is in this thread.
http://groups-beta.google.com/group..._frm/thread/45a99abc942f42d3#4fd9f63df79a042d

Look at the end and in the link to MSDN.

I hope this helps?

Cor