Posted by Nikita the Spider on 09/01/06 20:31

In article <1157125504.376804.183220@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com>,
"umlatte" <post.mod@gmail.com> wrote:

> I think I have gotten in over my head, so a point in the right
> direction would be nice.
>
> What I want to do is create a document with checkboxes that all the
> people in my office can check off when they finish a project. The page
> will be hosted internally on a Mac. I know HTML design, but not a lot
> of heavy coding (PHP or Java) but I can learn if directed to the right
> sites.
>
> So far it seems like I will have to install PHP and mySQL into the Mac
> (or enable PHP anyhow I realize it is already in there). Then set up a
> database to remember the states of the checkboxes... yeah I pretty much
> have no idea how to do most of that.
>
> Any ideas on a simple way to create a form that will be hosted
> internally on a Mac and can have a bunch of data with checkboxes that
> can be viewed and edited by multible users and will remember the states
> of the checkboxes?

OS X comes with Apache built in, which means you've got a Web server
already. I don't remember if it's got PHP added by default.

There's a database called SQLite that's very easy to install and yet is
still capable of quite a lot -- certainly all you'd need for it to do.
It'd save you some work versus getting MySQL or Postgres installed. When
I Google for "sqlite mac" I get this page, which looks like just the
ticket for you:
http://c-command.com/tools/sqlite

Disclaimer: I've used SQLite but not the package referenced above.

EVen simpler, you could skip using a database and store the data
yourself in a file. Me, I'd probably use a database, but I'm familiar
with them and even if a database seems like overkill at this point, it
won't if the project grows in scope (which these things tend to do).
YMMV.

There's a package called Spyce (http://spyce.sourceforge.net/) which
allows you to build dynamic pages just like PHP or ASP. The scripting
language is Python, which (I think) is installed by default with OS X.
You might find it less intimidating to install Spyce than PHP, but
you'll certainly find a lot more tutorials, etc. online for PHP.

Good luck!

--
Philip
http://NikitaTheSpider.com/
Whole-site HTML validation, link checking and more

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