V5 Chapter 41

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229 MySQL Default Tabel type 2011-05-14

I am using one of my old favorites XML Spy to design the database.I'm changing the original SML to accommodate the new database engine MySQL.One of the early problems was the my ISP only supports MyISAM table types in its MySQL server and XML Spy was outputting INNODB type tables.A quick question on the MySQL forums yielded this answer:

It is not a session variable, so you cannot change it "on the fly" You first should locate the MySQL config file named my.cnf (or my.ini). Then in that file find the [mysqld] and add the following line below it as shown below. [mysqld]
default-storage-engine = myisam
You also should make sure you restart MySQL server.

Now I can futz around with the table structure to my hearts content without worrying about adjusting the table types every time.

228. Working with FrontPage 2011-05-03

I have been working with MS FrontPage as my web site authoring tool for many years and I have become accustom to its quirks and foibles. I finally know where 80% of the functions that I need can be found and how to navigate in the web site.I even like it.It was knowledge hard won and I am loath to change to one of the newer authoring tools just to keep up with the times.

To make FrontPage and php compatible you must do the following:

Change settings in FrontPage 2003
Before you can use PHP with FrontPage 2003, you must make the following changes to settings in FrontPage:

Disable features that require the FrontPage Server Extensions

If the Web server that runs your PHP pages has the FrontPage Server Extensions from Microsoft installed, do the following:
  1. On the Tools menu, click Page Options, and then click the Authoring tab.
  2. Under FrontPage and SharePoint technologies, clear the SharePoint Services and Browse-time Web Components check boxes.

Disable features that create ASP or ASP.NET code. If the Web server that runs your PHP pages can also run ASP, do the following:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Page Options, and then click the Authoring tab.
  2. Under Browsers, clear the Active Server Pages check box.

Enable and use ASP-style <% %> code delimiters

Do the following:

  1. Open the php.ini (php.ini: The master configuration file for PHP that you can customize to help you control the way PHP works on your site.) file on the Web server, and set asp_tags="1".
  2. Use ASP-like <% and %> tags instead of the <? php?> tags. This stops FrontPage from reformatting your PHP code.

Note As an alternative, you can use <script language="php"> and </script> tags instead of <? php?> tags.

Configure PHP file extensions to open in Design view

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Configure Editors tab.
  2. In the Extensions list, locate and select the file extension that you want to use.
  3. In the Editors list, select FrontPage (Open as HTML).
  4. Click Make Default.

If the extension that you want does not appear, you must add it.

How?

  1. Click the New Extension button (or press ALT+N), located above the Extensions list.
  2. In the Open With dialog box, type the file extension that you want in the Extension box.
  3. Select FrontPage (Open as HTML), and then click OK.

That seems to work fine.Now I can develop the php code I need using phpDesigner 7 and then embed it into my web site and build the visuals using FrontPage.

227. Chuck MySQL Workbench and start over

After struggling with MySQL Workbench for *way* to long I finally realized that my difficulties were not all >my fault.The steps necessary to build a new ERR diagram and export it to the database server (steps 225) are simply not intuitive.

So I did a survey of the other tools available and selected a new tool set to work with.I need tools that work with Delphi and have direct access to MySQL databases.Here are the candidates:

TMySQL Not well maintained
Direct SQL Source Forge
SciBit Nice tool set
Zeos Installed this and tried it
DevArt Best of the bunch and not too expensive
Via Verio No information
MySQL DAC Good tools but a bit hard for me to us

It took most of the day but I finally settled on DevArt system.Its installed and the tool set is very intuitive.It has a small cost to it but right now I'm working with the evaluation set..

2011-04-24 Work in progress.

225. MySQL Workbench2011-04-19

Step by step using this tool:I have written this as a way to keep track of the setup necessary for the MySQL Workbench tool that I'm using.It is adapted from the MySQL Workbench Documentation section 4.0 but changed to fit the release (5.2.33b GA- 2011-03-21) that I have installed.Workbench is one of those deceivingly simple looking tools that should be usable without documentation at all, the mark of well designed software in my not so humble opinion, but it is not.So you may follow these instructions if you wish and good luck.

4.1 Administering a MySQL Server

4.1.1 Launch MySQL Workbench -You will be presented with the Home screen.

Create a Server Instance

4.1.2 New Server Instance - To administer your MySQL Server, you must first create a Server Instance. The instance contains information about the target server, including how to connect to it. From the Home screen of MySQL Workbench, click New Server Instance. The Create New Server Instance Profile wizard will be displayed.

New Server Instance Profile Wizard

4.1.3.LocalHost - In this tutorial, you will connect to a locally installed server, so make sure that is selected and click Next

4.1.4.Setup Connection -Next you will set up a connection, or select an existing connection to use to connect to the server. Assuming that you have not already created a connection, you can use the default values here, although if your MySQL Server has a password set for the root account, you can enter it here by clicking on Store in Vault. This enables you to connect to the server without needing to enter a password each time. It is also possible to use a different account to connect to the server by setting the user name and password here, if required.

Press Next.

4.1.5 Test Results - The connection will now be tested. You should see that the connection was successful. If not click Back and check that you have entered the information requiredClick Next.

4.1.6 Windows Parameters - On this screen, you will set the operating system and installation type. In this case, the operating system is Microsoft Windows, and the installation type is MySQL 5.1 x86 Installer Package. Setting these options enables MySQL Workbench to determine the location of configuration files, and the correct start and stop commands to use for the server. Press Next.

Continue Screen Instance Profile

4.1.7 Name the Instance - After accepting the review you finally you can give the server instance a suitable name. This will be used to select this particular instance from a list of available instances.Press Finish.

4.1.8 Start/Stop - You can and stop this instance of the server you have just created here.Now press the 'house' (top left) to return to the home screen.

4.2 Creating a Model

In this section, you will learn how to create a new database model, create a table, create an EER Diagram of your model, and then forward engineer your model to the live database server.

4.2.1 - Create EER Model - From the home screen select Create new EER Model. A model can contain multiple schema. Note that when you create a new model, it contains the mydb schema by default. You can change its name to serve your own purposes, or delete it.

4.2.2 Add New Schema - On the Physical Schemata toolbar, click the button + to add a new schema. This will create a new schema and display a tabsheet for the schema. In the tabsheet, change the name of the schema to “SETI_data”, by typing into the field called Name. Ensure that this change is reflected on the Physical Schemata tab. Now you are ready to add a table to your schema. If at this stage you receive a message dialog asking to rename all schema occurrences, you can click Yes to apply your name change.

Change Schema Name

4.2.3 Add Table - In the Physical Schemata section, double-click Add Table.

4.2.4 Change Table Name and engine- Select 'Table 1' and change its name.Select the database engine.My remote server uses the MyISAM engine so this is selected.Then Select the Columns tab to start the definition of the columns in the table.

4.2.5 Save Model / Create Diagram - At this point, you can save your model. At the top of the screen press the Save Model to Current File icon. Since this is the first time to save the model you will be prompted to enter a model file name. I used “ SETI Data Schema”. Click Save to save the model.Next press the 'Model | Create Diagram from Catalog Objects' menu item and you will be presented with an image of the table so far.

4.2.6 Synch with Server - You can synchronize your model with the live database server. First, you must tell MySQL Workbench how to connect to the live server. From the main menu, select 'Database | Manage Connections'.You are presented with the Manage DB Connections dialog. ....

4.2.7 Manage DB Connections -

  • In the Manage DB Connections dialog, click New.
  • Enter “SETI Hits Server” for the connection name. This enables you to identify the server to which this connection corresponds, although it is possible to create multiple connections to the same server.
  • Enter the user name for the account you will use to connect to the server.
  • Click on the Store in Vault button and enter the password for the user name you entered in the previous step. You can optionally ignore this step, and you will be prompted for this password whenever MySQL Workbench connects to the server.
  • Click Test Connection to test your connection parameters. If everything is okay at this point, you can click Close

4.2.8 Forward engineer - You are now ready to forward engineer your model to the live server. From the main menu, select 'Database | Forward engineer'. The Forward engineer to Database wizard will be displayed.Simply press Next.

Forward engineer Options

4.2.9. Options -The Options page of the wizard shows various advanced options. You can ignore these and simply click Next.

Hit Next on Review as well.

4.2.10 Do It - Make sure you have the Stored Connection set, check the I.P. address then Execute.You will see a progress dialog and some test results..

  1. Ensure that the script ran without error on the server, then click Close. As a simple test that the script worked launch the MySQL Command Line Client (mysql). Enter SHOW DATABASES; and identify your schema. Enter "USE SETI Data Schema" to select your schema. Now enter SHOW TABLES;. Enter SELECT * FROM Hits;, this will return the empty set as you have not yet entered any data into your database. Note that it is possible to use MySQL Workbench to carry out such checks, and you will see how to do this later, but the MySQL Command Line Client has been used here as you have probably used it previously.
  2. Ensure that your model is saved. Click Save Model to Current File on the main toolbar.

Progress Dialog Test Results

2011-04-10

SETI Net uses a database to track the hits as they come in. Each hit is Date/Time stamped along with all the information that appears in the status screen.This allows the hits that have been falsified to be ignored the next time they appear in the system.After all its enough to go through the ET Alert drill once not over and over.Since most (almost all) alerts are falsified by moving the antenna the frequency of the alert is the only decimator.Therefore the alert frequency is used to skip not the pointing angles of the antenna.

The data base in use is a simple CVS system, a comma delimited line by line listing of alerts and this seems to work alright but I always wanted to update it to a system that would allow live data be be presented on the web site.To do this I have to move to a modern data base system.I have added:

  • MySQL to the web site server ( www.SETI.Net ) I will have to write server side script to present the data

  • PHP to the web site.The server side script will be written in this language

  • MySQL to my development machine.This is the community version and is free.

  • MySQL Workbench to my development machine.This is the tool I will use to maintain both the web server and my local machine database

  • ZeosDBO components to my Delphi 7 installation.These components will allow me access the database directly from my running code.

This the plan so far.Right now I am going though a tutorial on the workings of MySQL Workbench.

225. SearchingL4/L52011-04-08

The description of the L4/L5 search is available (TBD) am not very proud of this write up and will be working on it from time to time.