Hi. PHP/MySQL are not strengths for me, and I want to get started creating a fairly simple website which is mostly a database interface.

For the moment, I am looking for a tool which can help me put together this website. I could learn the coding myself, but I want to get started soon, and I don't want my website to be poorly coded, full of security holes, etc.

The description is as follows...

Content of the database is about seven tables which interrelate heavily. Example: People, Objects, Procedures, Situations. Various People might use various Objects for various Procedures in various Situations. That's a simplified description, since again, there would be at least seven main tables.

End users should be able to search the database for any single parameter or combination of parameters. (e.g., search for X Situation and Y Procedure and find out which People would use which Objects in that case).

The initial search result would be a table of matching results, at which point users could click on one result for a detail display. The detail would show all correlations of that instance to all tables.

So my questions would be:

1. What tool(s) would I need to get it done?
2. Is it practical to do this without learning more PHP & SQL first? (I'd like to get it prototyped sooner rather than later)
3. What haven't I specified that you would need to know to answer the above?

Many thanks in advance!

What you are describing is an "Expert System"

Is it practical to do this without learning more PHP & SQL first?

Basically. ....



... No.

Originally Posted by chrishirst

What you are describing is an "Expert System"

Thanks for the link. Cool stuff... but I think my request is simpler than that. Expert systems seem to be adaptive to a changing realm of understanding. Mine would be much more static. Think of it, for example, as describing the rules of hockey. There are many interrelating tables of information, but there isn't significant unknown/changing/evolving information.

Originally Posted by chrishirst

Basically. ....
... No.

Any change of opinion based on the above? And if not, how about at least a framework or basic tool I can start with? Again, my objective isn't necessarily to have all the work done for me (not that I would mind: a CMS-style solution sure would be nice) as much as it is to not make horrible mistakes while allowing me to develop relatively quickly.

Expert systems run the whole gamut, from describing very simple tasks to complex simulator systems.

Even search engines are at their heart an "Expert System".