Chapter 3 Working with Dynamo Web Sites

Working with Web sites

You create and work with Web sites using Sybase Central. Because PowerDynamo plugs into Sybase Central you can manage both your databases and your Web sites from within Sybase Central.

What is a Dynamo Web site?

A Dynamo Web site consists of:

• A set of documents stored in a database or in files on disk, together with a connection specification (including user ID) for a database.
• A set of data referenced by SQL statements included in the templates. This data is stored in an ODBC or Open Client database.
• A set of connections used by the PowerDynamo Application Server to access the data.

Web site architecture

How documents are stored

Dynamo Web sites include:

• Documents These may be templates, scripts, or HTML documents.
• Database data The data that fills out queries in templates.
• Connections To access the data.

Web site documents are usually stored in an Adaptive Server Enterprise or Adaptive Server Anywhere relational database in a set of tables. However, the structure of these tables is hidden from the user by the PowerDynamo application server. Web sites may also be hosted in the file system.

The data may be contained in an Adaptive Server Enterprise or Adaptive Server Anywhere database, or in some other ODBC or Open Client data source.

Hierarchical views of documents

Sybase Central provides a hierarchical view of a Web site, just like a directory structure. A hierarchical architecture has advantages for a Web site:

• The URL, the address of documents on the World Wide Web, uses a hierarchical model. A hierarchical structure is required for URL access to the documents.
• You can import whole directory trees of HTML files into a Dynamo Web site database, and maintain hypertext links from one document to another, as long as these links are coded as relative addresses, not absolute.

Storing documents on disk

Not all the documents in a site need be held in a database. Web sites can also contain documents stored in folders on disk.

For information about creating dynamic file-based Web sites see "Creating a dynamic file-based Web site "

For more information about storing documents on disk and linking these into a database-hosted Web site, see "Linking folders to directories on disk".

Before you begin

You should be familiar with the basics of using Sybase Central for managing databases. For assistance with using Sybase Central, see the Sybase Central online help for Dynamo.

Creating a Web site [Adaptive Server Anywhere]

You create Dynamo Web sites from Sybase Central, the management tool included in Dynamo, Adaptive Server Anywhere, and Adaptive Server Enterprise.

Web site created at the server

Sybase Central is a client application. You can use Sybase Central to create a database-hosted Web site on a database residing anywhere on the network. There is no requirement for Sybase Central to run on the same machine as the database server.

To create a Web site from Sybase Central [Adaptive Server Anywhere]:

1. If you do not wish to use an existing database to hold the Web site, create a database to hold the Web site. You can do this using the Create Database utility, which is in the Sybase Adaptive Server Anywhere container in Sybase Central.
   
   For more information about creating a database, see the Sybase Central online help and "Working with Database Objects" in the Adaptive Server Anywhere User's Guide.
   
   
2. Start Sybase Central.
   
   
3. Create an ODBC data source definition for this database. Use the ODBC Administrator from the Utilities folder in Sybase Central.
   
   For more information about creating an ODBC data source, see "Connecting to a Database" in the Adaptive Server Anywhere User's Guide.
   
   
4. Create a connection profile for your Web site.
   
   
   1. Select Tools | Connect Profiles.
   2. Click New. In the Create New Profile window, enter the name of the profile (this name is used to identify the Web site in Sybase Central) and select PowerDynamo as the type. Click OK.
   3. Fill in the fields in the Connection Profile window. If you are creating an ODBC connection profile, you would:
      
      • Select the data source you have created from the drop-down list of ODBC data sources,
      • Enter a valid user ID. Adaptive Server Anywhere databases are created with a single user, with DBA authority. The user ID is DBA and the password is SQL.
      
      
   4. When you have filled in all fields, click OK.
      For information on creating File connection profiles, see "Creating a connection profile for your Web site".
      
   
   
   
5. From the Connection Profile window, highlight the connection profile you just created and click Connect.
   
   
6. If no Web site exists for the user ID you have specified on the database, Dynamo prompts you to add a Web site.
   
   
   • Enter a name for the site. This is the name of the main contents folder on the site.
   • Select the appropriate boxes if you want to load the PowerDynamo documentation and samples into the Web site. Click OK to create the site.
   
   
   
7. To configure this Web site to be accessible from a Web server, see "Configuring Web sites".
   
   

Notes

• Only one Web site per user can be created in a database; for example, DBA can create only one Web site in the sample database. A new user; for example DBA2, can create another Web site in the same sample database.
• The connection information (database, user ID, and so on) that you fill in when you first connect to the Web site serves two functions. It is the owner of the tables containing the template and script data, and it is provided as a connection called <default> which can be used for data referenced in queries in templates.

Creating a Web site [Adaptive Server Enterprise]

You create Dynamo Web sites from Sybase Central, the management tool included with Adaptive Server Enterprise.

Web site created at the server

Sybase Central is a client application. You can use Sybase Central to create a database-hosted Web site on a database residing anywhere on the network. There is no requirement for Sybase Central to run on the same machine as the database server.

To create a Web site from Sybase Central [Adaptive Server Enterprise]:

1. From Sybase Central, connect to the Adaptive Server where you want to create the Web site, or create a new database.
   
   
2. Now you need to connect to the database as a Web site. To do this, you must connect using a Dynamo connection, not an Adaptive Server Enterprise connection, within Sybase Central.
   
   
3. Create a connection profile for your Web site.
   
   
   1. Select Tools | Connect Profiles.
   2. Click New.
   3. In the Create New Profile window, enter the name of the profile and select PowerDynamo as the type. Click OK.
   4. Change the connection type to Open Client.
   5. Fill in the fields in the Connection window:
      
      • Enter a descriptive name in the Connection Name field, such as My First Site. This name is used to identify the Web site in Sybase Central. You can use spaces in the name if you wish.
      • Enter the names of the server and database to connect to. These names are case sensitive.
      • Enter a valid user ID and password for this database. The user ID must have the permissions necessary to create tables.
      
      
   6. When you have filled in all fields, click OK.
      For information on creating ODBC and File connection profiles, see "Creating a connection profile for your Web site".
      
   
   
   
4. Highlight the connection profile you just created and click Connect.
   
   
5. If no Web site exists for the user ID you have specified on the database, Dynamo prompts you to add a Web site.
   
   
   • Enter a name for the site. This is the name of the main contents folder on the site.
   • Select the appropriate boxes to load the PowerDynamo documentation and samples into the Web site. Click OK to create the site.
   
   
   
6. To configure this Web site to be accessible from a Web server, see "Configuring Web sites".
   
   

Notes

• Only one Web site per user can be created in a database; for example, DBA can create only one Web site in the sample database. A new user; for example, DBA2, can create another Web site in the same sample database.
• The connection information (database, user ID, and so on) that you fill in when you first connect to the Web site serves two functions. It is the owner of the tables containing the template and script data, and it is provided as a connection called <default> which can be used for data referenced in queries in templates.

Creating a dynamic file-based Web site

You can use Sybase Central to create a file-based Web site that resides on any drive that is accessible (locally or via a network) from the machine where Sybase Central is running. File-based sites dynamically connect to a database and retrieve data.

To create a file-based Web site from Sybase Central:

1. Create a directory for store your Web site.
   
   
2. From Sybase Central, select Tools | Connect.
   
   
3. In the connection profile window:
   
   
   • Select a connection type of Dynamic File.
   • Enter the name of the connection that you are making.
   • Enter the path to the file-based site.
   
   
   Click OK.
   
   
4. If no Web site exists in the directory, Dynamo prompts you to add a Web site.
   
   
5. Select the appropriate boxes to load the PowerDynamo documentation and samples into the Web site, and click OK to create the site.
   
   
6. To configure this Web site to be accessible from a Web server, see "Configuring Web sites".
   
   

Notes

Retrieving data from a database with a dynamic file-based Web site

After you have created a dynamic file-based Web site, you must create a connection to the database and specify the connection name in the root folder of the file-based Web site.

To retrieve data from a database:

1. Use Sybase Central to connect to your file-based Web site.
   
   
2. Open the Connections folder of the Web site.
   
   
3. Create a connection to the database you want to retrieve data.
   
   
4. Right-click on the root folder of your file-based Web site and select Properties.
   
   
5. Select the connection that you just created from the pull down menu of the Connection field.
   
   
6. Click OK.
   
   

Alternatively, you can create DynaScript connections in your Web documents to connect to a database and retrieve data. The following script uses the connection myConn (connects to the sample database) to execute a SQL query.

<HTML>
<TITLE>testthis.stm</TITLE>
<BODY>
<H1></H1>
<!--SCRIPT
   myConn = site.GetConnection("Conn1");
   if( myConn == null ) {
       myConn = site.CreateConnection("Conn1", "My test connection", "Adaptive Server Anywhere 5.0 Sample", "dba", "sql");
   }
-->
<!--SQL CONNECTION_OBJECT=myConn
SELECT  contact.last_name, contact.first_name, contact.title
FROM DBA.contact contact

 -->
<TABLE BORDER>
<TR>
<TH>last_name</TH>
<TH>first_name</TH>
<TH>title</TH>
</TR>
<!--formatting--><TR>
<TD><!--data--></TD>
<TD><!--data--></TD>
<TD><!--data--></TD>
</TR><!--/formatting-->
</TABLE>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Creating a connection profile for your Web site

You should create a connection profile for your Web site from Sybase Central. When you create a connection profile, the connection information is stored in the registry in encrypted form. This information is used not only in Sybase Central, but also by the Dynamo application server as database provider profiles.

There are three types of connection profiles that you may create:

• ODBC connection profile Used for connecting to Adaptive Server Anywhere or Adaptive Server Enterprise Web sites.
• Open Client connection profile Used for connecting to Adaptive Server Enterprise Web sites.
• Dynamic File connection profile Used for connecting to Web sites that are hosted on disk.

Consistency with connections
A Web site should always be connected to with the same type of connection as was used for the original creation of the site. For example, if the sample Web site was created with an ODBC connection, it should not later be connected to with an Open Client connection

To create a connection profile:

1. From Sybase Central, select Tools | Connection Profiles. The Connection Profiles window is displayed.
   
   
2. Click New. The Create New Profile window is displayed.
   
   
3. Enter a name for the connection profile, and select PowerDynamo from the list of available types. Click OK. The Connection window displays.
   
   
4. Select a connection type.
   
   
   • For ODBC:
     
     
     Fill in the fields in the Connection window, and click OK to create the profile.
     
     
     
   • For Open Client:
     
     
     Enter the name of the server to which you wish to connect.
     
     1. Enter the name of the database to which you wish to connect.
     2. Fill in your user ID and password, and click OK to create the profile.
     
     
   • For Dynamic File:
     
     
     Enter the path to the File-based site, and click OK to create the profile.
     
     
     
   
   
   

The Select Method
When you are creating an ODBC data source for an Adaptive Server Enterprise database the Select Method must be set to 0 - Cursor for Dynamo to work. The Select method setting is located within the ODBC Administrator | ODBC Sybase | Driver Setup | Performance Tab.

Regenerating a Web site

When you regenerate a Web site, the existing content of the Web site is deleted, and a new Web site is created.

To regenerate a Web site:

1. With the right mouse button, click the Web site icon in the left pane of Sybase Central, and select Regenerate from the menu.
   
   
2. Enter a name for the main contents folder in the Web site setup window, and select the appropriate options to include the Dynamo documentation and sample application in the site. Click OK to regenerate a clean Web site.
   
   

Deleting a Web site

When you delete a Web site, the existing content of the Web site is deleted. If the database containing your Web site has other data, it is not affected by the deletion of the Web site. Also, the database itself is not deleted.

With the right mouse button, click the Web site icon in the left pane of Sybase Central, and select Delete from the menu.

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