RE: [Refdb-users] Re: Refdb-users digest, Vol 1 #79 - 3 msgs

[Alan A. <al...@ru...>]

Howard,

>--------------------clip-----------------------------------
> > I'd be glad if RefDB could be convinced to cooperate with PHP. This
> > would allow to build a nice user interface, much better than the crude
> > CGI stuff we've got now
>
> Actually, the command line interface is not that bad.  I'm making
> good progress on a custom GUI using PHP. The
> regular expression commands in PHP are pretty efficient for
> separating the output.

I'd be interested in hearing how far along you are on the PHP interface.  The reason I was faced
with the same problems was I started making a Perl script to emulate/replace the CGI support in
refdbc.  I wanted to be able to specify a file along with a reference and have it automatically
uploaded, placed in the repository, and the reference updated to reflect the existence of the file.
My original attempt was a simple form which simply took the ID and a file, but within a few hours I
was able to recreate most of the current CGI interface.  I've also added forms for inserting several
types of records without requiring a solid knowledge of RIS, and the code is flexible enough to
allow customization of these forms.  I'm working on the query interface now.

My biggest hurdle is that refdbc/refdbd both provide HTML output, but it is the ENTIRE page, not
just the information of interest.  The philosophy I took was to send and receive RIS to/from refdbc,
and let the CGI app handle the formatting and display (my OOP background encourages me to prefer
separation of data and display).


> I should say that the command line interface is OK on a Linux/UNIX
> system.  I can't say anything about Windows.

I initially struggled with the command-line interface because I really wanted something easy to use
(i.e. GUI), but like you I eventually found the command-line interface reasonably easy.  However,
outside of myself, there isn't anyone here that would be willing to use the database if only the
command-line interface was available.

Best of luck with your GUI.  I look forward to seeing it.  Hopefully, I'll have something to share
soon also (I could probably share what I have if you, or anyone else, is interested).

Al