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- Why should I use DBDolphin?
- It works with any MySQL database. It's easy to install in
xampp. It gives you a good user interface right away with minimum
work. It can be configured to have a good look and feel for your
application. You can add custom reports and pages. And you have the
code, so you can modify it as you wish for more advanced
effects.
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- How do I get it?
- Download the DBDolphin.zip file from this link in the sidebar.
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- How do I install it?
- First you install xampp or xampplite. Download the zip file,
and extract the contents to the xampp[lite]/htdocs/xampp folder.
You should wind up with a folder named DBDolphin and the files
inside it.
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- How do I run DBDolphin?
- Using your browser, navigate to your webserver and the
DBDolphin folder. Usually it will work to put in the url
http://localhost/xampp/DBDolphin/; in fact, clicking this link should bring it
up once you have installed everything. Top
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- What can I customize?
- The easy things to customize without coding are:
- the DBDolphinDB.css cascading style file, to change the
background image to your choice of a 1200x1200 picture,
- the Settings.php file to force it to your database right away
instead of the user choosing it,
- the Reports.php file which allows you to put in any sql
statement you want as a special report with its own title,
- the Links.php file, which allows you to put any of your own
links in the left sidebar. Top
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- What is in the Settings file?
- Each entry in the Settings.php file is a php variable named
$TEXT['keyword']. Technically, $TEXT is an array with the entries
identified by a keyword. To customize your application, you set the
'keyword' variable to the text you want to use. DBDolphin will run
well with minimal changes to the Settings file, as indicated below.
- 'applicationcode': You have to change this one; set it to the
name of the folder in which your application is located, so you
would change "DBDolphin" to "yourfolder".
- 'favicon': You don't need to do this, but if you want an icon
to show up next to the title in the window bar, put the image file
name here. The image should be around 20x20 in size, and should be
a gif, jpg, ico, or png file.
- 'database': If you want the system to go immediately to a
particular database in your mysql installation, put its name here.
Otherwise DBDolphin will prompt the user to select a database.
- 'host': Change this to put the name of your host here, if
necessary; usually the default "localhost" will work if you are
running on your own computer. You might need localhost:8001 or some
other port if you have set up a different port from the standard
port 80. If your database is on a different computer you will need
to consult your system administrator to find out what name to use.
usually it will be a url, such as "http://databaseserver.com/" or
an IP address like "http://192.168 1.38/".
- 'username', 'password': The default for mysql is "root", and a
blank password, "", which are already coded into the Settings file;
you are usually advised to change these after you get xampp going.
Then enter the username and password of the account you want to
access the database here. This is the only place in the system that
the username and password are present, and therefore you should
secure this file if security is a concern.
- Any particular item with '_title': This is what appears in the
title bar of the window the page runs in. Change it if you
wish.
- Any particular item with '_head': This is what appears as the
large type first line of the page, as the heading. Change it if you
wish.
- If you add pages to the system, you should select a text name
for the page, like mypage, supply a line for the $TEXT entries
'mypage_page', 'mypage_title', and 'mypage_head' for that page.
There are examples in the file. Top
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- How do I use the Reports file?
- The reports file is very simple. Each report consists of a 'title' and
a 'sql' statement. Enter them inside quotes on the right hand side of the equals sign.
Make sure each statement ends with a close-quote and a semicolon (php convention).
- For the 'title' just enter the text you want to see at the top of the report.
- For the 'sql' enter the exact SQL statement you want to execute. It can be as complicated as you wish.
See the MySQL documentation for the complete list of how to write SQL statements in MySQL.
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- How do I use the Links file?
- The links file allows you to add links to the left hand sidebar of the main screen.
Several links are included already:
- a link to the special reports in the reports file, if it is there;
- a link to phpMyAdmin, which will be useful in many systems;
- a link to Bruce's website, where the user can get this help.
- a couple of commented out links from another system, as samples,
which can just be uncommented and edited if you wish.
To add a link, you can simply copy the phpMyAdmin link text, paste it above, and edit the 'name' and 'anchor' keywords;
or just uncomment and modify one of the links that have been commented out. You need to choose a link label $LINK['mylabel'] for your link, different from the others, to identify your name and anchor.
- The $LINK['mylabel']['name'] keyword text should be what you want to see in the sidebar; the name of the link, so the user knows why to click it.
- The $LINK['mylabel']['anchor'] keyword text should be filled in with the complete url (with the http:// part) of the link you are going to send the clicker to-- it could be anything. Typical uses are to send the user to a page you have written, or to a research page such as google maps or google search, or to sources of your information the user needs. Notice that the anchor uses the 'name' information to supply the text that the user will click on when viewing the link.
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