something for webpage table/database?

[Davegod]

I'm wanting to make a webpage containing a large table / small database, simply a list with about 4 attribute columns for each entry:

keyword | attribute1 | attribute2 | attribute3 | description.
(roughly 1000 rows of 5 columns, but this can be broken down into sections if necessary)


I could do this with basic tables, but I also want people to be able to sort the data alphabetically by clicking on any of the column headings (except for description). The only way of doing THAT with manually written tables would be to do the entire thing multiple times over, even with copy & paste that would be painful. The sorting would be pretty important for it's users though, with sort it's be nice and convienent to use, without it'd be a pain in the rear.

I do not want loads of features or whatever. Bloat, over-complication, browser incompatibilities etc isnt necessary. It would be nice to have a convenient way to enter/manage the field data, but this would be strictly bonus. It's not remotely mission-critical or whatever, the table would just provide people with useful information which is currently hard to find, especially organised.

My skillz are currently limited to basic HTML with notepad 🙁 Anyone know of ideas? Even basic pointers of what to try googling for would be appreciated.


(the page is for a community site/fansite and I am not being paid in any way)

 

[WannaFly]

I get the feeling its static data, If it is, use excel to sort it and copy and paste it into an html table. save as 5 different files, link each, done!

 

[kamper]

Well, if you know some programming this sort of thing is pretty simple... When a user requests the page, query the database and translate the result straight into an html table, nothing simpler. When the user clicks a sort button, include the appropriate field and direction in your sql query and let the database do the sorting for you.

Eventually you can add a form to the top that allows users to filter the results, just by including the form data in your query much like the sorting criteria. Then another form can be used if you want to allow them to insert data.

I have seen database tables sorted entirely by javascript in the browser (by manipulating the html table) but that is just fugly.

Although my prefered solution would be one jsp and one or more servlets, the quickest way is probably to use php. http://www.php.net has some decent tutorials on learning php if you were to go that route.

 

[screw3d]

Originally posted by: kamper
Well, if you know some programming this sort of thing is pretty simple... When a user requests the page, query the database and translate the result straight into an html table, nothing simpler. When the user clicks a sort button, include the appropriate field and direction in your sql query and let the database do the sorting for you.

Eventually you can add a form to the top that allows users to filter the results, just by including the form data in your query much like the sorting criteria. Then another form can be used if you want to allow them to insert data.

I have seen database tables sorted entirely by javascript in the browser (by manipulating the html table) but that is just fugly.

Although my prefered solution would be one jsp and one or more servlets, the quickest way is probably to use php. http://www.php.net has some decent tutorials on learning php if you were to go that route.

:thumbsup:

 

[Davegod]

cheers guys.

php is the sort of thing I was imagining, and perhaps would be best for the page. But then Excel sounds most convenient for the occasional data maintainance/corrections, so two good options to look at :beer: . Would the excel sheet export into a html table? (I dont have excel installed atm, have access to a PC with office 2000 though)