Keep in mind that some of what I've done is limited to Mini SQL. If you want to duplicate these changes for other databases, you will probably have to do more work since Mini SQL handles requests in a serial manner so there are no problems with 10 users accessing the same data at the same time. Other databases might require some kind of table/page/record locking that I don't have to worry about.

These tutorials are not for the casual reader. You'll have to know something about how WDB works or learn it to apply these changes to the original WDB code. You can scan the original WDB Docs if you want.

This is a list of enhancements I've made to WDB. As the tutorial is written for an enhancement, the list item will turn into a hyperlink. I'm writing the tutorials in no particular order, so if you want to request which one gets done next, or if you use one I've posted here, mail me.

• Functions:
  1. Selecting an FDF form and action from HTML SELECT list.
     • Added $action = 'dummy'.
  2. Insert
     • Added $action = 'insert_form' and 'insert'.
     • Added dbi_getnextserialkey() to msql_dbi.pl file.
     • Added 'serial_key' table to the database with fields 'table_name' and 'key_value'. This is how I implemented serial keys in Mini SQL.
     • Added dbi_countrows() to msql_dbi.pl file.
  3. Update
     • Added $action = 'update_query_form', 'update_query', 'update_form', and 'update'.
     • Added Update field in msqlfdf program.
  4. Delete
     • Added $action = 'delete_query_form' and 'delete_query' and 'delete'.
     • Added 'Delete' field to msqlfdf program.
     • Added password checking for delete function.
     • Added dbi_getpassword() to msql_dbi.pl file.
     • Added 'security' table to database, with fields 'username' and 'password'. Note: No password encryption is done yet.
  5. Allow Updates and Deletes From a Query Results Page
     • It makes sense to give a database administrator the ability to choose to update or delete a record based on a single query, instead of doing an update_query, then an update, or a delete_query then a delete. So, I added the capability to do a query, then click on the MORE, Update, or Delete link.
  6. Results Paging
     • Displays database results one page at a time.
     • Added 'page' $action.
     • Uses the ROW_PAGING and PAGING_KEY FDF global attributes mentioned in a later section.
     • Uses code from Steven Brenner's cgi-lib.pl library to encode all form data and pass it to WDB via the URL for each new page.
  
  
• FDF Field Attributes: each field in a WDB FDF can have several attributes. Some attributes have values, and others affect WDB's behavior simply by existing and require no values. These FDF attributes affect a single field.
  
  
  1. foreign_key
     • Tells WDB to find the serial_key field first, then this field value must match the serial_key field value.
     • Used with insert, update, and delete.
  2. non_null
     • Requires a field to have a value.
     • Used with insert and update.
  3. no_insert
     • Hides a field during inserts (i.e. serial keys, etc.)
     • Used with insert.
  4. no_update
     • Hides a field during updates (i.e. serial keys, etc.)
     • Used with update.
  5. operators
     • Gives the user a pulldown menu of operators to use, instead of requiring them to know how to use WDB operators. (i.e. > <, =, ~, ==, like, etc)
     • Syntax: operators = ~!like,==!=,&lt=!&lt=,&gt=!&gt=,&lt!&lt,&gt!&gt
  6. picklist
     • Presents a readable list to the user while searching the database using a different value.
     • Syntax: picklist = table1%table1_id,table1_name
  7. selectlist
     • Selects a list of values from a database table for the user to select from.
     • Syntax: selectlist = table1%table1_id
  8. scrolllist
     • Selects a list of values from a database table for the user to select from and puts them in a scrollable list. (Works the same way as selectlist.)
     • Syntax: scrolllist = table1%table1_id,table1_name
  9. pulldown
     • Selects a list of values from a database table for the user to select from and puts them in a pulldown list.
     • Syntax: pulldown = table1%table1_id,table1_name
  10. radiolist
      • Selects a list of values from a database table for the user to select from and makes them a set of radio buttons.
      • Syntax: radiolist = table1%table1_id,table1_name
  11. serial_key
      • Tells WDB to get a value for this field on insert, or this field contains the master key value to perform updates and deletes across join conditions.
      • Used with insert, update, and delete.
      
      
  12. Controlling WDB Output

      
      

      These field attributes are used to make WDB's output a little more refined in full-screen mode.
      
      

      no_label

      Suppresses the printing of a label for a single field.
      
      

      no_space

      Suppresses the spaces between columns on output. (Columnar output in full-screen mode uses the sameline attribute.)
      
      

      line_break

      Used to force blank lines between sections of output.
      
      

      separator

      Allows you to designate a delimiter between fields displayed in columnar mode without spaces between them.
      
      

      An Output Example

      This will be an example of how to use the above all together.
      
      

  
  
• FDF Global Attributes: each FDF has a list of parameters at the top of the file which affect everything in the file or set values used by WDB but don't affect individual fields.

  HEADER attributes specify titles to put at the top of an HTML page for performing specific functions. (I_ is for insert, U_ for update, etc.) HTML attributes are extra HTML text to put under the header, if needed.

  1. Changed D_HEADER to DEF_HEADER for default header.
  2. Added I_HEADER, IR_HEADER, I_HTML, IR_HTML - used with insert.
  3. Added U_HEADER, UQ_HEADER, UR_HEADER - used with update.
  4. Added U_HTML, UQ_HTML, UR_HTML - used with update.
  5. Added D_HEADER, DQ_HEADER, DR_HEADER - used with delete.
  6. Added D_HTML, DQ_HTML, DR_HTML - used with delete.
  7. Added NO_INSERT - prevents inserts with the current form.
  8. TABLE_RESULTS - puts output into an HTML table.
  9. DISTINCT_QUERY - makes all queries use 'select distinct'.
  10. ROW_PAGING - displays a page of results and puts a link at the bottom of the page to see the next page of results.
  11. PAGING_KEY - the field to use as the key for ROW_PAGING.
  12. QUERY_FORM - allows you to use separate forms for the input and results pages.
  13. RESULTS_FORM - allows you to use separate forms for the input and results pages.
  14. ALLOW_UPDATES - enables updates from the query results form.
  15. ALLOW_DELETES - enables deletes from the query results form.
  
  
• Other Enhancements:
  1. Large text strings are put into a TEXTAREA, instead of an INPUT field. This is really only useful during inserts or updates.
  2. Changed the msql_dbi.pl file so it can use multiple database cursors at the same time.
  
  
• Bug Fixes:
  1. Fixed msqlfdf to work with MsqlPerl 1.03 (or better).
  2. Fixed a bug that called dbi_nextrow() one too many times when displaying output.
  3. Fixed msql_dbi to work with Perl 5.003.