MySQL used with VB .NET 1.0

[Ed Sowell]

Being unable to do this even with some very experienced and talented folks,
I have to ask has anyone here actually done it? I'm stuck with the 2002
Visual Studio .NET, I can't solve the problem by upgrading.

Ed

 

[Cor Ligthert[MVP]]

Ed,

I don't think that much people here use MySql as SqlServer Express from
Microsoft is freeware.
Therefore most people here uses the full versions of SqlServer or SqlServer
Express

I have seen often issues with mySql from the point of view of the AdoNet
newsgroup.
But as you have troubles with that, then that newsgroup can "maybe" help
you.
I don't for the reason above not have experience with mySql

Cor

 

[Ed Sowell]

Ah, now I understand. But as you note, SqlServer is not an option on Linux
servers. While I was investigating that, I revisited my hosting service and
compared the available support on Linux vs. Windows servers. What I see
there is discouraging, as it shows all the Windows stuff, e.g., ASP.Net 1.1
& 2.0 and .Net Framework as not supported on Linux. I'll ask them just to be
sure but if that is as it seems my current little project is not going to
work at all.

Ed

 

[James Hahn]

Is this still the web site for the car club? If so, you should forget
about using SQL. There is no point in putting that data into a database
just so you can drag it out again to build the page. Go back to the CSV
file you started with.

Whatever process you eventually develop for getting the data from an EXCEL
spreadsheet on your machine into a database on your ISPs server will be much
more complicated than a simple CSV export and FTP.

In fact, based on your first description, it would almost be simpler to
manually build the pages each time they need updating and reload them to the
server - a simple VB routine to create the variable portion of each page
from the CSV file, insert it into the fixed portion, and you're done. Not
elegant, but adequate.

The database solution is not worth the effort unless you have a need to
learn the procedure, such as other projects coming up that require a
database.

 

[Cor Ligthert[MVP]]

James,

I agree with you, but then the XML version in my idea as Tom pointed out.

There is not much difference with Xml and csv beside that XML stays a little
bit more sure by instance as users starts to use commas in their
descriptions etc,

Cor

 

[Andrew Morton]

There is not much difference with Xml and csv beside that XML stays a
little bit more sure by instance as users starts to use commas in
their descriptions etc,

However, they are just as likely to use ampersands and greater than/less
than signs, which, of course, need to be encoded as character entities in
XML.

Andrew

 

[Ed]

James,

Yes, it's the same thing. I agree, I could have done it without
getting into a formal database, SQL, etc. I'm sure I would have been
finished by now. Guess I became intrigued with the database idea and
my project suffered mission creep; my main mission remains a simple
Web app that allows identification of car models based on multiple
selectors, but along the way I decided I wanted to learn something
about database. I now see that it was naive to think I could easily do
both while straddling platform differences, software tool versions,
etc.

Ed

 

[Ed]

Coming back to the question below, are the problems I've encountered
due to targeting a Linux Web server while developing on a Windows
platform? If so, would the latest version of Visual Studio .NET make
the problem go away, or does the whole .NET business not mesh with
Unix/Linux Web servers?
Ed

 

[Cor Ligthert[MVP]]

Ed,

You can have a look at the Mono project, that is for Linux, but I think too
that you make it yourself to difficult doing everything at once as you wrote
already.

Cor

 

[Tom Shelton]

Ah, now I understand. But as you note, SqlServer is not an option on Linux
servers. While I was investigating that, I revisited my hosting service and
compared the available support on Linux vs. Windows servers. What I see
there is discouraging, as it shows all the Windows stuff, e.g., ASP.Net 1.1
& 2.0 and .Net Framework as not supported on Linux. I'll ask them just to be
sure but if that is as it seems my current little project is not going to
work at all.

Ed

So, your hosting is Linux? Well then why are using ASP.NET at all? There is
support for this via the mono project, but unless your host is supporting that
then you might as well give it up.

You should be looking into PHP - not .NET. PHP has several built in functions
for working with mysql, it also has stuff for straight csv data, IIRC.

 

[Ed]

Yes, I believe I said that earlier. I guess I was lead down the path
I'm on because I am a long time user of Visual Studio in C++ and say
that I could create a Web app simply by selecting a project type. And
since I have developed Web sites with Front page that work quite
nicely on Linux servers, it did not occur to me that Microsoft would
present a whole new way to create Web apps that would run only on
Windows servers! Just call be naive!

My hosting service does offer Windows servers, so maybe I should ask
them to move my account over to one.

Ed

 

[Tom Shelton]

Yes, I believe I said that earlier. I guess I was lead down the path
I'm on because I am a long time user of Visual Studio in C++ and say
that I could create a Web app simply by selecting a project type. And
since I have developed Web sites with Front page that work quite
nicely on Linux servers, it did not occur to me that Microsoft would
present a whole new way to create Web apps that would run only on
Windows servers! Just call be naive!

Microsft has had windows specific stuff for long before .NET - ASP for
instance.

Like I said, there is ASP.NET support on Linux and Apache via the mono
project, but I don't think it's likely that your hosting provider supports it

My hosting service does offer Windows servers, so maybe I should ask
them to move my account over to one.

That, or learn PHP

 

[Ed Sowell]

Tom,

The trouble is, if I switched to PHP is I'd have one foot in Windows and the
other in Unix/Linux. I have used Unix/Linux for periods several times over
the years. Always reminded me of DOS, even after the GUIs became avaiable. I
realize this is a very personal thing, but for me I find I am much more
productive and comfortable in Windows. BTW, does PHP have a graphical forms
design tool, or would I be coding in PHP/HTML with a text editor?



Ed

 

[James Hahn]

Tab as delimiter should get around the comma problem, although fixed width
is also an option.

 

[Tom Shelton]

Tom,

The trouble is, if I switched to PHP is I'd have one foot in Windows and the
other in Unix/Linux. I have used Unix/Linux for periods several times over
the years. Always reminded me of DOS, even after the GUIs became avaiable. I
realize this is a very personal thing, but for me I find I am much more
productive and comfortable in Windows. BTW, does PHP have a graphical forms
design tool, or would I be coding in PHP/HTML with a text editor?

Ed...

While there maybe some sort of grapichal PHP tool, I don't know of any. So,
basically you would be using a HTML/Text Editor.

By the way, PHP works on windows as well I'm not trying to sway you one
way or the other. You need to decide, based on what technology you have
availalbe. If you want to use .NET - then you are most likely going to have
to switch to windows hosting. If you are going to stay with Linux based
hosting, then you will want to focus on something like PHP.

It's as simple as that.

 

[Cor Ligthert[MVP]]

James and Andrew,

XML is not made for nothing, before there was XML I have used CSV
intensively.

Did you know that the delimiter in non English languages is a ";".

In my idea is the tab not really in a CSV file they are in txt files where
the fields are delimited by a tab or any other character instead of having
fixed field length like a punch card.

But use what you like, I don't use already for years anymore CSV.

Cor

 

[Tom Shelton]

James,

I agree with you, but then the XML version in my idea as Tom pointed out.

There is not much difference with Xml and csv beside that XML stays a little
bit more sure by instance as users starts to use commas in their
descriptions etc,

Cor

The op is dealing with a small amount of readonly data. If it's an XMl
format, he could just read it into a dataset and then work with it in a
structured way. Might even be worth it to create a simple program that
generates the xml from his csv. He knows how to read the csv already with the
OleDB stuff - just read it into a dataset and call WriteXml.

Then, on the webpage:

Dim data As New DataSet
Using dataStream As New FileStream (path, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.Read)
data.ReadXml(dataStream)
End Using

 

[Cor Ligthert[MVP]]

Ed,

While there maybe some sort of grapichal PHP tool, I don't know of any.
So,
basically you would be using a HTML/Text Editor.

By the way, PHP works on windows as well I'm not trying to sway you
one
way or the other. You need to decide, based on what technology you have
availalbe. If you want to use .NET - then you are most likely going to
have
to switch to windows hosting. If you are going to stay with Linux based
hosting, then you will want to focus on something like PHP.

It is not impossible that as there is hosted on windows that than there is
than as well something as a SQL server available.

I think you should wait doing it and stay with your CSV/XML solution, but
don't forget to ask it if you have to decide which hosting company you would
take.

Cor

 

[Tom Shelton]

Ed,
It is not impossible that as there is hosted on windows that than there is
than as well something as a SQL server available.

Actually, it's probable that it is - and mysql. I have both in my windows
based hosting.

I think you should wait doing it and stay with your CSV/XML solution, but
don't forget to ask it if you have to decide which hosting company you would
take.

That's the root of the issue. If he is on Linux hosting and decides to stay
there, then he is really in the wrong group and using the wrong language

 

[Ed]

I'm now thinking I should ask my hosting service to move me over to a
Windows host. There seems to be little or no downside to that, other
than the local backup of the site they want me to do before they move
it over. One other minor problem is they tell me that MySQL doesn't
work as well under Windows as it does under Linux. My guess is
whatever problems they are referring to are probably not with the
basic stuff I'd be doing. But, since the Access database server as
well as ODBC are available I probably wouldn't want to use MySQL
anyway.


Ed