[benandkelley]

Hi all,

I'd like to build a database application that will reside on only on Mac running OS 10.3 . The legacy data was maintained in MS Excel. I now want to have a simple interface that will also store data. If I were using Windows then I'd use MS-Access.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd prefer a cheap solution. I've heard FileMakerPro mentioned on the web a bit...is this good? Is there a freeware/shareware solution? I don't know if I want to go back and code some HyperCard app. (I've used many SQL databases, and various languages, so the technology has no restrictions...the cost is a restriction...cheaper is better)

Thanks in advance for any info.

-Ben

[genevish]

Originally posted by benandkelley:
Hi all,

I'd like to build a database application that will reside on only on Mac running OS 10.3 . The legacy data was maintained in MS Excel. I now want to have a simple interface that will also store data. If I were using Windows then I'd use MS-Access.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd prefer a cheap solution. I've heard FileMakerPro mentioned on the web a bit...is this good? Is there a freeware/shareware solution? I don't know if I want to go back and code some HyperCard app. (I've used many SQL databases, and various languages, so the technology has no restrictions...the cost is a restriction...cheaper is better)

Thanks in advance for any info.

-Ben

Install PHP and MySQL from here:

http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/

Then add phpMyAdmin from here:

http://www.phpmyadmin.net/home_page/index.php

Simple, fairly powerful and free...

[benandkelley]

Originally posted by genevish:
Install PHP and MySQL

Thanks for the suggestion, but I do not want to have to install a web server on the machine. I'd like to find a stand-alone application which will be a database with a front-end.

Any ideas are appreciated.

Thanks.

-Ben

[larkost]

FileMaker is a great solution for this level of application. If you can find a friend with a copy of FileMaker Developer they could even make you a quick app and give you a runtime version (data editing, but no structure editing) for free. If not, then you might be able to pick up a copy of FM 6. 7 is a nice upgrade, and if you can afford the full price, go for it. But sticking with 6 is not going to be a deal-breaker.

If you were a programmer, and had some time on your hands I would mention SQLite, and the QuickLite wrapper for it, but that is going to take a bit of time to get done... probably worth it to go FileMaker unless you already have a good base of knowledge.

Sadly the shareware/open source solutions in this area just are no where near ready to compete with even Access, let alone FileMaker. There are some promising starts in the KDE camp, but nothing ready for a lot of real use.

[genevish]

Originally posted by benandkelley:
Thanks for the suggestion, but I do not want to have to install a web server on the machine. I'd like to find a stand-alone application which will be a database with a front-end.

Any ideas are appreciated.

Thanks.

-Ben

Well, if you're running Mac OS X, you have a web server installed already...

[timmerk]

As it has been pointed out, OS X already has a web server installed.

Second point - why are you posting this in Web Developer if you are not interested in using a web based solution?