Webpage database - shopping cart

[PL01]

My small business relies on Access for its datatbase needs. We are currently putting up an ecommerce website with a shopping cart. The web page design company uses a database called Zen cart, using PHP as the language. Is this compatible? Is there a better way to go before we get too involved with this one? We would prefer not to enter data twice, but have it seeemlessly come into our Access database off of the web, or is this too much to ask? There seems to be very little written material about Access and HTML.

 

[Remou]

Check out ASP, rather than HTML. You will find a good deal on Access and the web. According to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_Cart,

Zen cart is open source software and uses a MySQL database, so it should be simple enough to keep you Access database synchronized using linked tables:

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/connector-odbc-examples-tools-with-access.html.

You may wish to consider changing to a MySQL back-end for your Access application.

 

[JoeAtWork]

I don't think I would recommend Access for a commercial website. If not MySQL, you might also consider SQL Server Express.

And if it's a new website, then ASP.NET would be better than ASP. Or go with the PHP one.

Joe Schwarz
Custom Software Developer

http://www.plandev.net

 

[Remou]

JoeAtWork
I think you may have misread the question.

 

[BNPMike]

I would think it unusual to use Access (ie Jet) on a PHP web site. Access is really for corporate networks. Your vendor should be able to substitute Jet (unless they are in a Linux environment) but then you lose the recovery features (logging etc) that you get with the likes of MySQL etc.

It shouldn't be too difficult to arrange for messages to pass between the web database and your Access application.

 

[Remou]

BNPMike I think that you, too, may have misread the question.

OP: "We are currently putting up an ecommerce website with a shopping cart. The web page design company uses a database called Zen cart, using PHP as the language."

Zen Cart uses MySQL.

 

[BNPMike]

Remou

I took it that PL01 realised Zen Cart is not Access. The issue is whether Jet can be used in this scenario - perhaps replacing MySQL or via some replication process.