Database Web publishing in action

One of the recurring buzzwords on the Web is data publishing. Data publishing involves creating Web pages from information stored in a database. This means organisations can get double value from information they already have stored in a database.

At Australian PC User magazine, for instance, we store Web site reviews in a Microsoft Access database and then use NetObjects Fusion to ?publish? that information in Web pages. The process is simple:

  1. We input site reviews, including the full review itself, URLs, author details, ratings and so on, into the Access table. Each review and its associated information occupies one record in the Site Reviews table.

Web site details stored in an Access database

 

  1. We design a Web page in NetObjects Fusion, linked directly to the Site Reviews table. This page displays a summary listing every site name in the table.

 

The summary Web page showing all database records

 

  1. Instead of having to create a separate page for every review in the database, we design a single ?template? page with just the right look. This template will be used to display individual site reviews.
  1. We tell NetObjects Fusion to publish the site. At that time, NetObjects uses our template to create a separate Web page for each record in our Sites table and puts links to each of those pages on the summary listing.

 

A record displayed using the standard page template

 

A second record displayed

 

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