Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 11-6
TCP/IP and HTTP
PC
Browser
Web Server
PC
Browser
CGI or API
PC
Browser
Middleware
PC
Browser
“The Internet”
ODBC
PC
Browser
Database
Server
PC
Browser
PC
Browser
Database
Accessing a database via the Web.
on the market are Cold Fusion, Oracle Application Server, Microsoft Active Server
Pages (ASP), ASP .NET, and others.
In order for the application software running on the Web server to con-
nect with software outside of the Web server, there must be agreed upon inter-
faces. Web applications use
Common Gateway Interface
(
CGI
) or various
APIs. CGI is a standard way for passing requests and data between a Web
server and an application. These interfaces have software scripts associated with
them that allow them to exchange data between the application and the data-
base server. The connection to the database server could be made directly at
this point, but more likely the connection is made using a standard interface,
such as ODBC.
