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Add information from a database to your web pages
With this step-by-step topic, you will learn how to integrate a
database with a web site using the Database
Results Wizard.
What you should know before you begin
About your database
- The type and name of your database (for
example, a Microsoft Access database named
fpnwind.mdb)
- Where the database is stored (for example, on
a web server, a database server, or on your hard
drive)
About your server and client computers
You should know whether the server —
the computer hosting the web site — has the required services.
Your Internet service provider (ISP) or web administrator can
tell you whether the server has these services installed.
You should know whether the client — your
computer — has the following installed:
- Microsoft FrontPage
- ODBC and ODBC-compliant drivers
- Optional: Data Access Objects
(DAO) to enable Database Publishing for
Microsoft Access databases.
About your web site
To use the Database Results Wizard, you must first create (or
open) a web site.
If you have a local web server, create or open your web site
using HTTP (for example, http://localhost/web). If you don't
have a local server, use C:/My Documents/My Webs, or another
disk-based location.
Important You can't test how your site
displays database information on a disk-based web until you
publish it to a server that meets the server requirements.
How to use the Database Results Wizard
Step 1 — Connect to a database
Before you can use the information in a database on your web
pages, you must create a database connection. Step 1 of the Database
Results Wizard is used to set up the connection. Once you set up
a database connection, you can use it on any page in your web
site.
If you're familiar with databases, you can set up a new
connection. Otherwise, you can practice using the sample
connection and database provided with Microsoft FrontPage.
Set up a new connection
- Make sure your insertion
point is on a web page, then start the
Database Results Wizard (on the Insert
menu, point to Database, and then
click Results).
- Click Use a new
database connection, and then click Create.
- Click Add, and
then type a name for the new database
connection in the Name box.
Note If
your database is password protected,
click Advanced in the New
Database Connection dialog box.
Then, type your user name and password
in the boxes.
- Under Type of
connection, choose one of the
following types of connections:
A
file or folder in the current web site
A file-based
connection to a database, such
as a Microsoft Access or
Microsoft Excel database, is
located in the web site.
- Click
File or
folder in
current web,
and then click Browse.
- In
the Files of
type box,
select the
driver for the
type of database
you're
connecting to.
- In
the URL
box, type the
path to the file
or folder
containing the
database, and
then click OK.
Or, use the Look
in box and
file list to
navigate to the
file or folder
you want, and
then
double-click the
file or folder
in the list.
- Click
OK to
close the New
Database
Connection dialog
box, and then
click OK
to close the Web
Settings
dialog box.
Note
If you
import an Access
database into
your web before
running the
Database Results
Wizard, you are
automatically
asked to create
a database
connection to
that database
and to store it
in the Fpdb
folder.
A
System Data Source Name (System DSN) on
a web server
A System DSN
is located on a web server. A
System DSN can connect to an ODBC-compliant
database (such as a Microsoft
Access or Microsoft Excel
database), or a database
management system (such as
Microsoft SQL Server).
Ask your web
server administrator to create a
System DSN if you need one
defined.
- Click
System data
source on Web
server, and
then click Browse.
The
System Data
Sources on Web
Server
dialog box is
displayed. The
list shows the
System DSNs
defined on the
web server.
- Select
the System DSN
for the database
you want to
access, and then
click OK.
- Click
OK to
close the New
Database
Connection
dialog box, and
then click OK
to close the Web
Settings
dialog box.
A
database server on a network
A database server
is a computer dedicated solely
to managing and maintaining
large databases (such as Microsoft SQL
Server). A network
connection to a database server
accesses this type of database.
- Click
Network
connection to
database server,
and then click Browse.
- In
the Type of
database driver
box, select the
type of database
driver you want
to use to
connect to the
database server.
- In
the Server
name box,
type the URL of
the network
server
containing the
database you
want to access.
- In
the Database
name box,
type the name of
the database,
and then click OK.
- Click
OK to
close the next
three dialog
boxes.
A
database using a custom definition
A custom
connection uses a file or string
that defines all the necessary
information.
- Click
Custom
Definition,
and then click Browse.
- In the Files of
type box,
select a File
DSN, Universal
Data Link (UDL)
file, or edit a
connection
string:
- To
select
a
File
DSN
or
UDL
file
in
the
current
web,
click
Browse.
In
the
URL
box,
type
the
path
to
the
File
DSN
or
UDL
file
to
which
you
want
to
connect,
and
then
click
OK.
Or,
use
the
Look
in
box
and
file
list
to
navigate
to
the
File
DSN
or
UDL
file
you
want,
and
then
double-click
the
file
in
the
list.
- To
edit
a
connection
string,
click
Advanced.
In
the
Connection
string
box,
type
the
appropriate
string
to
pass
to
the
database
driver
to
which
you
want
to
connect.
Click
OK.
Note
Do
not
use
a
File
DSN
to
connect
to
a
database
file
in
the
current
web;
the
File
DSN
will
contain
file
paths
that
are
incorrect
for
the
web
server.
Instead,
create
a
database
connection
to
a
file
or
folder
in
the
current
web.
Any
timeouts
or
other
name-value
parameters
for
the
database
must
be
contained
in
the
File
DSN.
If
they
are
not,
click
Advanced,
and
then
enter
the
appropriate
information.
- In
the Database
name box,
type the name of
the database,
and then click OK.
The database
driver referred
to by the File
DSN or the
connection
string must be
present on the
web server for
the connection
to work
properly.
- Click
OK to
close the next
three dialog
boxes.
Use a sample connection
and database
The sample database provided by Microsoft
FrontPage is a Microsoft Access database. If you use
this database, the wizard automatically imports the
database file fpnwind.mdb into the Fpdb folder of your
web site. If you have Microsoft Access 2000 or later,
you can open this file to view its contents. Viewing the
contents will help you understand the other options in
the wizard.
- Make sure your insertion
point is on a web page. Start the
Database Results Wizard (on the Insert
menu, point to Database, and then
click Results).
- In Step 1 of wizard,
click Use a sample database
connection (Northwind).
Step 2 — Choose a record source
After you have created
the database connection, Step 2 of the
Database Results Wizard displays the record sources (the names
of the tables and views) in the database. Choose the source you
want to use.
- In Step 2 of the wizard, click Record source.
- From the drop-down list, click the table or view
that contains the information you want to
display.
Step 3 — Determine how records will display
Step 3 of the wizard lets you determine how you want the
records in the database to display. In this step of the wizard:
- Choose the database fields to display (for example
you may want to show the ProductName field,
and the UnitPrice field).
- Filter specific records (for example, you may only
want to see Food products).
- Sort the records in a alphabetical or numerical
order. You can sort in either ascending or
descending order.
- Determine how many records to display (for example,
you can show anywhere between 1 and 256 records
that meet your filter criteria).
Select the database fields
to display
- In Step 3 of the wizard,
click Edit List.
- Do one of the following
to modify the Displayed fields
list:
- Remove a
field from the list.
- Select
the field you want to
remove, and then click Remove.
- Change
the field display order.
- Select
the field you want to
move, and then click Move
Up or Move Down.
- Add a
field to the list.
- In the Available
fields list, select
the field you want to
add, and then click Add
to add the field to the Displayed
fields list.
- When you're finished
working with the Displayed fields
list, click OK.
Specify criteria to filter
database results
- In Step 3 of the wizard,
click More Options, click Criteria,
and then click Add.
- In the Field name
box, select the field that contains the
values you want to look for.
For example, from a
database of employees, you could select
the LastName field.
- In the Comparison
box, select the type of comparison you
want to perform.
For example, to filter
all last names equal to
"Smith," you would select Equal
in the Comparison box.
- In the Value area,
enter the value that you want to
filter.
For example, to display
all last names equal to
"Smith," you would enter Smith
in the Value box.
- Clear the Use this
search form field check box.
- Decide whether your query
is complete. Choose one of the
following:
- If you're
finished specifying
criteria, click OK
until you leave criteria
setup, but continue
using the wizard.
- To
continue to build your
query, select And
or Or in the And/Or
box, and then click OK.
- In the Criteria
dialog box, click Add and repeat
steps 2-6 of this procedure, and then
click OK when finished.
Notes
- To modify a clause in
existing criteria, select the condition
you want to modify in the Criteria
dialog box, and then click Modify.
- To remove a clause from
existing criteria, select the condition
you want to remove in the Criteria
dialog box, and then click Remove.
Specify a sort order for
records
- In Step 3 of the wizard,
click More Options, and then
click Ordering.
- In the Available
fields list, select the primary
field you want to use to sort the
database results, and then click Add
to add that field to the Sort order
list.
- The Available
fields list displays
all of the fields in the
selected record
source.
- The Sort
order list displays
the fields that will be
used to sort the
database results. An up
arrow next to a field
name indicates that the
field will be sorted in
ascending order (for
example, from A to Z). A
down arrow indicates a
descending sort order
(for example, from Z to
A).
- To organize the sort
order of the list, do any of the
following:
- To remove
a field from the Sort
order list, select
it, and then click Remove.
- To change
the order of fields in
the Sort order
list, select the field
you want to move, and
then click Move Up
or Move Down.
- To change
the sort order for a
field from ascending to
descending, select the
field in the Sort
order list, and then
click Change Sort.
The arrow next to the
field name changes to
indicate the sort
direction.
-
When you are satisfied
with the sorting order in the Sort
order list, click OK.
Note You can add
multiple fields to the Sort order list. Database
results will be sorted by the first field in the list,
and then they will be sorted by the second field in the
list. For example, if you want to display a list of
employees sorted by last name and then by first name,
you would add the fields LastName and then FirstName
to the Sort order list.
Show a specific number of
records
You can set a maximum number of records
to be returned and displayed in the Database Results region.
- Start the Database Results Wizard
(on the Insert menu, point to Database,
and then click Results), and
click Next to get to Step 3.
- In Step 3 of the wizard,
click More Options.
- Select the Limit
number of returned records to check
box, and then type a value representing
the maximum number of records.
Step 4 — Choose formatting options for
database results
In Step 4 of the wizard you determine how you want
to format the database results. You can choose to format
the information in a table, a list, or a drop-down list.
Format database results as
a table
In Step 4 of the wizard, in the Choose
formatting options for the records returned by the query
list, click Table - one record per row.
Specify the additional table formatting
you want for the database results region:
- To hide inside and
outside table borders, clear the Use
table border check box.
- To create a table only as
wide as necessary based on its contents,
clear the Expand table to width of
page check box. If the check box is
selected (the default setting), the
table will be the same width as the
page.
- To create a table with no
header row, clear the Include header
row with column labels check box.
Format database results as
a list
In Step 4 of the wizard, in the Choose
formatting options for the records returned by the query
list, click List - one field per item.
Specify any additional list formatting
options you want, as follows:
- To hide field labels and
display only data, clear the Add
labels for all field values check
box.
- To display the results in
one continuous list, with no separator
between records, clear the Place
horizontal separator between records
check box.
- In the List options
box, select a formatting style for the
list, such as Bulleted list or Numbered
list.
Format database results as
a drop-down list
- In Step 4 of the wizard,
in the Choose formatting options for
the records returned by the query
list, click Drop-down list - one
record per item.
- Under Display values
from this field, select the field
you want to use for the choices that
will be displayed to the site
visitor.
- In the Submit values
from this field box, select the
field to be submitted if the drop-down
list is inside a form. You can choose
the same field you selected in the
previous step, or choose a different
one.
Step 5 — Show records together or in
groups, and finish the wizard
The final step of the wizard lets you determine whether
to show all records together or separate them into smaller
groups. If you choose to display records in smaller groups,
Microsoft FrontPage automatically adds navigation controls
to let site visitors navigate through the groups of records.
Note The option to Split records into
groups is unavailable if you select Drop-down list in
Step 4 of the wizard.
- In Step 5 of the wizard, choose one of the following
grouping options:
Display records in
one list or table on a page
Click Display all records together.
Divide records into
smaller groups
Click Split records into groups,
then type the number of records you want
to include in each group.
- Click Finish to end the wizard. The web page
will display the database results region you
created using the wizard.
Save and test your web site
Once you have completed the wizard, a Database
Results region is inserted on the web page. To view how the data
will look when your web is browsed, you must save the page as an Active Server Page (ASP) and browse the site to
view database results.
- On the File menu, click Save as. Notice that
the Save as type box indicates Active Server
Pages. Enter a name for the file in the File Name box
and ensure that the file extension is .asp.
- Click Preview in Browser
to view the
site.
Note If you created a disk-based web site, you
must first publish your site to a web server that meets the server
requirements.
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