Introduction to Database Forms with HTML (Page 1 of 4 )
In order to write a database program, you need:
a database engine e.g. Microsoft Access, MSSQL, MySQL, Oracle, etc
a database API to link the database and the programming language.
a programming language such as C++, Java, Visual Basic.net, and Perl.
Windows API e.g. win32 API to design the forms. Note that many people prefer to use studios instead. The use of studios makes the designing of the forms less tedious.
In writing any program, the Windows API gives you more flexibility than studios. That is, you can create more forms of your choice with Windows API than you would with a studio.
If you are looking for flexibility, and you do not want to go through the tedious process of using a Windows API, then know that you can use HTML. Authors of PL/SQL have already been using HTML to create their forms, but not in the way that I present in this series of articles.
Note that everybody today is expected to have a browser in his computer. The use of HTML to create database forms gives you design ease, and the library to produce the forms, which is the "browser," is readily available. So if you want flexibility and you do not want to use a Windows API, HTML is a good choice. I show you how to do that in this series.