DB_Browser

DB_Browser is a web interface that lets you browse database tables, search for columns containing particular content, and add new data to a database.

Created by Chris Hardie, DB_Browser was last updated in January 2001. The product, a Perl CGI script that uses the mod_perl Apache module, is definitely worth a look. It provides a good illustration of how to use Perl DBI and its various drivers to build a tool that works on various databases, including Oracle. It may provide a good starting point for building your own web-based application.

The main web site for DB_Browser is:

http://www.summersault.com/software/db_browser/

Installing DB_Browser

If you are using DB_Browser with Oracle, follow these steps:

  1. Download DB_Browser from the web site mentioned earlier.

  2. Edit the browse_lib.pl file for your site. At a minimum, you will need to correctly set the following variables:

    $orahome
    $dbtype
    $dbuser
    $dbpass
    $database

    In the following example, we altered the variables at the top of the browse_lib.pl file. Also make sure that the $orahome variable (which is a bit lower down in the file) is set correctly for ORACLE_HOME. Notice our default table:

    # User defined variables
$database = "orcl";
$dbtype = "Oracle";
$dbuser = "scott";
$dbpass = "tiger";
$default_table = 'EMP';
$compname = "Oracle and Open Source
Technology";
# 

Oracle Home
$orahome = '/u01/app/oracle/product/8.1.5';

  3. Copy the .cgi files and browse_lib.pl to a valid /cgi-bin directory.

  4. Open http://yourhost.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi and you’re off and running.

Let’s assume that, after having unpacked the DB_Browser download in a /root/ch7 directory, we decided to “borrow” the Oracletool Apache web site we’d set up earlier. We copied the appropriate DB_Browser files into its /cgi-bin directory and made them executable as follows:

$ cd /usr/www/site.oracletool/cgi-bin
$ cp /root/ch7/db_browser1.30/browse_lib.pl .
$ cp /root/ch7/db_browser1.30/search.cgi .
$ cp /root/ch7/db_browser1.30/add.cgi .
$ cp /root/ch7/db_browser1.30/edit.cgi .
$ chmod +x *.pl
$ chmod +x *.cgi

Finally, we started up our dormant httpd web server daemon again and went once more unto the breach as follows:

$ /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -d /usr/www/site.oracletool

Once DB_Browser has been installed properly, fire up your favorite browser, as you do with all of the web-based applications we describe in this chapter. Point the browser to the location of your search.cgi script, and you’ll see the main window on the left side in Figure 6-15.

Our first DB_Browser screen, and a search for MILLER using M

Figure 6-15. Our first DB_Browser screen, and a search for MILLER using M

In this figure, you can see that because we set $default_table to EMP, our first screen defaulted to it. In Figure 6-16, poor old MILLER gets the mace in the neck again.[38]

Using the salary-altering update facilities within DB_Browser

Figure 6-16. Using the salary-altering update facilities within DB_Browser


[38] Since Oracle’s earliest days, this character has been the unfortunate target of many such slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, but we dare not oppose such a sea of traditions.

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