Database Driven Projects

There are many reasons why a database might be an important part of a project we undertake.

Sometimes clients have data they wish to publish that is held in a database.

Other times clients wish to capture data from a terminal, CD-ROM or web site to a database.

Often, a database is not part of our initial brief, but becomes a sensible way of effecting a project.

Upon occasion we have even even allocated most of an available budget to effecting a decent database solution when we were originally approached to do a web site. As a by product we have then published via templates a far more comprehensive web site that the original budget could afford if programmed manually.

MPP possesses strong "desktop" database application building skills. Our usual tools are 4D, Omnis, Access, MySQL and SQL Server. Other tools used to integrate multimedia applications written in Macromedia Director or Authorware or Asymetrix ToolBook include VB12 and custom modules written in C or Visual Basic to access Access, dBase and Paradox and ODBC tables.

It is important to stress however that databases can not, and should not, be used in all cases. There is a strong argument that mass manufacturing of web pages looses the creative edge that designers and developers bring to a project.

In reality many larger sites end up a mix of data driven and hand crafted components. Its horses for courses, but we have developed many data solutions over the years, and can quickly ascertain whether your organisation or project could benefit from such a structured approach.

We are also able to bring a little life to your network interfaces or intranet. Ergonomics dictates that the most simple interface is not always the most user friendly.

Data systems have their place, and can, if well designed, effectively applied and properly maintained, make a huge difference in the way a project is developed and the results attained.

For more information, or to discuss a forthcoming project, please contact us.