database driven CD?

Is there a way to access a database (preferably Access) on a multimedia CD.

I need to make a CD just like a website, when the CD is inserted, the homepage opens up in a browser, but there is a database (in Access formta) that nees to be searched and results returned. how would I do this without using ASP, or PHP.

does flash have database capabilities, or is it possible to embedd a vb application?

thnx

I can convert the database into XML format, is it possible to access and query xml data using a client side script??

i need only readonly access.

Well, you'll need a scripting language of some sorts. If that database is large, a client-side script would be unreasonable.

You will need ASP, PHP, or some other server-side programming language. Then you'll need the computer running the CD to support a web server and be configured with an ODBC connection to a file on the CD. All of which sounds like it won't fit your bill.

So... maybe your database isn't large. Some Javascript could load the data from a file (would the client-side script complain about security?) and re-populate a list based on form interaction. Javascript isn't my bag... so, I'm stepping out of this thread. I guess my point is that what you want is--probably--not feasable.

Can you break the database out into static pages before burning the CD? Maybe a good page design and liberal use of CTRL+F will do the trick.

I was rather curious about your question and checked the documentation for Javascript. I found nothing in the function list to indicate a Javascript script could open a local file. However, this got me to thinking about using a Java applet on the client. java.io.File can open a local file. Security restrictions may prevent this... or, at least, generate a warning message. If an applet can read a local file, then you can work with a local database (XML would be much easier than Access).

If you pursue this, please post follow-ups in this thread.

Good luck.

How many records do you intend to have in this database? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions? If you're database is relatively small, and if JavaScript has support for file input and pattern matching (beats me, I avoid javascript), then you could probably do this with a flatfile and a client-side language like JavaScript. I can't see this working any other way. But I don't have any experience in this sort of project, so you've got me stumped.

thnx, for replies

basically they have a database in access format with 1 table.
it is a company directory that they want searchable by category, company name, city, or province. Using html form controls.

they want the results returned in spreadsheet format (which i want to sream out to comma delimeted text-file with xls extension.)

the database is about 30MB's so it is fairly large
I can export to a xml file if that would be easier to parse with client side scripting.

**I may also be able to get the database in spreadsheet format.

the CD will be distributed to members and customers of the company so I can't control the computer running the CD.

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I was also thinking is it possible to send a url string from the html form to a vb6 application, I could then parse the database using vb and create a comma seperated file?

30MB is too much for Javascript.

i don't know if it's too late or not, but access databases can easily be read (and written, but you can't do that on a CD) through VB. If it was OK to use a VB rather than through a browser, this could be done. Tell me if your interested and I'll go see if I can find the necessary code.