Hi:

As a final phase of a project on which I am working on, I must connect 4 computers all sharing the same database. How should I go about doing this and avoid pitfalls right from the start.

Any suggestions however minimal are most welcome. Thanks for taking the time to answer this question!

I am unsure how you expect to work this; or rather your tutor, but I would create one system as a server. This would control the database and allow access to the other three computers who log on to it.

The reason I would suggest this route is simply for security and stability. If you had 4 systems who could connect and edit a databse, you could have a nightmare on your hands; which is a possible pitfall.

Steve.

Thanks Steve:

Anything else you would like to add for security? I'm using Apache 2.0 as the server. Thanks for the tip!

You will need to add all workstation IP addresses and/or computer names to the "mysql -> user" table, then grant them access to specific databases by adding corresponding records for them in "mysql -> db" table.

This way, only those workstations with host connection priviledges will be able to connect to the mysql server.

We have done this on occassion when a site did not have MySQL installed on their server and they needed to piggy-back on ours

Originally Posted by simptech

You will need to add all workstation IP addresses and/or computer names to the "mysql -> user" table, then grant them access to specific databases by adding corresponding records for them in "mysql -> db" table.

This way, only those workstations with host connection priviledges will be able to connect to the mysql server.

We have done this on occassion when a site did not have MySQL installed on their server and they needed to piggy-back on ours

Will I need to install anything on their respective computers? I mean like a form to validate, or something else? If I do use a form, how do I connect it to the server? In other words how do I make sure that by using the form, the person can have direct access to the database (as long as password and username is validated)?

no forms necessary. just need the db connection to look for "IP_ADDRESS:3306" instead of "localhost"

ie:
mysql_connect("192.168.1.102:3306", "username", "password");

Originally Posted by simptech

no forms necessary. just need the db connection to look for "IP_ADDRESS:3306" instead of "localhost"

ie:
mysql_connect("192.168.1.102:3306", "username", "password");

Sorry to ask another dumb question: The above will have to be done on the server right?
What I mean is, do I have to write the code to look for the incoming IP's?

Please don't laugh: How will other users (on other workstations) have access to the database? I know you mentioned something like this before - do I have to set up something on their respective workstations (a shortcut, perhaps)?

I'm not getting a clear picture of what I need to do, sorry.

Thanks for being patient and your help!

Hi guys, I worked on it over the weekend and finally cracked what I had to do about connecting the 3 other units to the server. It was simpler than I thought. Thanks to all of you.

Special thanks to Simptech --> tips really helped!

Glad we were able to help