Advice Needed

al.

Hi, im trying to hook up an SQL database to a GUI. The database will contain prices of different drinks and will be updated regularly. I want the updated prices to be displayed on a screen (a GUI will do) and i was wondering if anybody had any ideas about how to go about this. I have tried searching the net and cant seem to come across anything of any use. Anybody got any ideas?

ressem

Questions questions,
Fundamentally there are thousands of ways to do this. Depends on what the users need, time, money, hardware you're willing to put into it.

what database, what gui (aka graphical user interface. windows? Mobile? Web page? Word/Access/Excel document (yuck) ?)
Does it need to be to transfer data over the network/internet?


i.e. can you tell us why you want do this using a computer as opposed to updating a blackboard. (too many blackboards? blackboards in remote locations? allergy to chalk/ink? Too tired writing and calculating tripled prices before international games? )

damnyanks

Visual Basic (6 or .Net) is possibly your best bet if you just want to let people view the data.

al.

Well basically im trying to display prices on a large screen. Prices of drinks to be precise. These prices will change depending on supply and demand much like the stock exchange. The prices will be updated every minute. This is only a college project so i dont actually need to have the prices displayed on a large screen so i thought that a Graphical User Interface would suffice. I have thought about using jsp but it seems to be a lot of effort just to display prices. I want the Screen to be very eyecatching and easy to read (when drinks are going up the colour of the drink will be red etc.) If you have a better idea than using a GUI to display this info could you let me know. thanks.

scojones

Is it Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, et al?

You could easily write something in php to do this via a web interface, or else you could write an app in C#/Java/whatever to do it, it's entirely up to you. There are hundreds of ways of doing it, Personally I'd go with php, that way it can be accessed from multiple machines (this could be done with c# via web services too, but that's more effort).

al.

The database is MySQL. I hadnt thought about php. Would this allow me to work on one machine and display the prices on another machine?

amen

what course are you doing in college and which college ?

al.

CA in DCU

scojones

al. wrote:

The database is MySQL. I hadnt thought about php. Would this allow me to work on one machine and display the prices on another machine?

Yes.

amen

is this a course requirement ? do you not have to use the language you have already covered in lecturers ?
is this a troll ?

damnyanks

Ahhh ok, I thought you meant MS SQL Server

Give Ruby a shot. Its meant to be rather easy to do things (quick to program at least) such as what you are hoping to do. If not that perhaps PHP or Perl would be the quickest(code wise) to create the system.

Anything like stock exchange night in the pubs? We have them in the UK Prices of drinks go up and down all night. 10p for some poteen