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VAN: Webmasters:
Accounts:
Using the Oracle Database Interface
Request an Oracle Account
The initial step in using the Oracle DBI is to request
an Oracle account.
Send email to <Help@alum.dartmouth.org>
and request an Oracle account on behalf of your class or
club. (Only one account per class/club is allowed (or needed).
This request must come from the class/club webmaster.)
Once you have requested the account, you can start to setup
while you wait for your account information.
Prepare the search.cgi Script
There are two scripts that you will need to install to
get up and running.
The first is 'search.cgi',
this script does all the work of taking the search request,
getting the data from Oracle, and displaying things on your
site.
You will need to change three variables in this code; these
changes are documented in the beginning of the file. You
will also need to change the HTML links so they point to
your pages. (This file's HTML has links that point to the
class of '66 site. We left the original class66 links in
as an example of how it was set up by that class.)
The script is written in perl. Unless you are comfortable
with programming in perl, you should not change any of the
source code other than what changes are marked in the files
comments.
Once you have made the necessary changes, this file should
be uploaded to the cgi-bin directory in your class/club
account. If this directory does not yet exist, then you
will need to create it.
Prepare the Administration Script
The second script you will need is the administration
script.
You will need to make changes to this script similar to
what you did with search.cgi; for example, change the three
variables, and make the HTML changes.
- Save this script in the cgi-bin directory along with
search.cgi.
You should save this script with a random name; do not
save it as script2.cgi, and don't put a link to it on your
website. This script has ability to make changes in your
database so you don't want to publish it.
One last note, the Alumni servers use CGIwrap. See the
CGIwrap documentation under the
Web Utilities topics for an overview.
Using the Oracle Database Interface
Oracle is a powerful relational database and is available
for use by Alumni Webmasters. Take a look at these two class
sites for examples of how useful this interface can be:
Chuck Sherman '66 developed a very nice searchable Classmates
form:
http://www.dartmouth.org/classes/66
Click on the "Classmates" link.
The Webmaster for '84 has a really nice form as well,
check it out:
http://www.dartmouth.org/classes/84/
Click on the "find someone" link.
The administrative functions of these pages are non-public;
however, entering/modifying/deleteing data is an easy task
once the scripts are set up.
Other classes and clubs are working on versions as well.
These sites should give you a good idea of how useful "access
script" access in relational databases can be.
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