These “Ask Slashdot” links are old, but the resulting discussions were lively and still contain a bunch of useful information:

Replacing FileMaker with Free Software
Windows to Mac Migration Guide/Advice
Multicast Imaging for Mac OS X

Posted at 8:50 AM PDT with these tags: mac, database, tools

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.com Solutions Inc. has updated its FileMaker 7 AppleScript Reference, offering both FileMaker 7 and PDF versions for free download. The guide provides a side-by-side quick reference for commonly used FileMaker 6 and FileMaker 7 AppleScript code examples. Each code example is stored within a FileMaker 7 database field for easy copying to the Mac OS X Script Editor.

Posted at 2:16 PM PDT with these tags: mac, database, scripting

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The DBD::mysql Perl module is used by many server software packages, but installing it on Panther can be problematic. A thread over at Mac OS X Hints contains a tip from someone at Apple that will solve most DBD::mysql install problems on Panther. (As always, don’t forget to install the Panther Developer Tools before attempting this or any other installations that compile software using gcc.)

Update: An updated hint is available.

Posted at 3:00 AM PST with these tags: mac, database

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Macintouch is host to an on-going thread about FileMaker migration to more scalable, web-friendly databases. Suggested solutions so far include MySQL and PostgreSQL, while others proposed waiting for FileMaker 7 or using FileMaker 6 with Lasso.

Posted at 3:00 AM PDT with these tags: mac, database

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MacUser has published a review of Servoy. Their verdict: “If you’re a professional FileMaker developer and you find yourself creating workarounds all the time, you need easy access to external SQL databases, or you have enterprise-level customers to deal with, Servoy might be what you need.”

Posted at 7:51 PM PDT with these tags: mac, database

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Our phpMyAdmin installation tutorial has been updated in order to add a MySQL control user and to change the authentication method from HTTP to a cookie-based method. Both of these changes were made to enhance security and should be easy to do retroactively, even if the previous instructions were used to install phpMyAdmin (simply perform step 6 and 10-14).

Posted at 2:06 AM PDT with these tags: mac, database

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Pre-requisite reading: Mac Serving With Apache, PHP, and MySQL

Now that we’ve already set up Apache, PHP, and MySQL, it’s time to install and configure a database management tool. Database management tools are used to create, edit, and browse database structures and content. Installing a separate database management tool isn’t strictly necessary; after all, the Terminal can be used to perform all MySQL database functions. But the reason we use Macs is that we prefer graphical interfaces to command lines, right?

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Posted at 4:29 AM PDT with these tags: mac, database

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The folks at Server Logistics have put together native Mac OS X package installers for many commonly used server tools, such as Apache 2, PHP, MySQL, and Tomcat. These installers should make it easier for people approaching these technologies for the first time, since these installers appear to obviate the need for cryptic Terminal commands. These packages even include System Preference panes for performing several useful functions, such as starting/stopping MySQL and Tomcat.

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Posted at 2:57 AM PDT with these tags: mac, tools, web, apache, database

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Applications such as FileMaker and Excel would seem like natural front-end interfaces to server databases such as MySQL and PostgreSQL, since the latter do not come with the GUI administration tools that Mac users are accustomed to. This type of configuration, however, can be difficult to set up properly. Luckily Andrew Anderson has published an article via MacDevCenter on how to connect to MySQL from Excel via Jaguar’s ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity) protocols. A future installment will describe how to get ODBC working with PostgreSQL. (It seems the PostgreSQL installment is MIA.)

Posted at 3:16 AM PDT with these tags: mac, database

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There are various software applications that can turn your Mac into a web log, news portal, or even an e-commerce storefront. A large proportion of these server software applications have three components in common: a web server, a scripting language, and a database. Follow the steps below to get some of the most popular versions of these components — Apache, PHP, and MySQL — up and running.

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Posted at 12:41 AM PDT with these tags: mac, web, apache, database

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