Setting up the Database

Like many web-based applications, the underlying structure of the Wrox Classifieds application is dependent on the ability to store and retrieve information. Therefore, we need to support some form of data storage.

We might store data in one or more forms – in temporary memory, in text files, in custom file formats, in relational databases, etc. For the purposes of this application, we'll be using a Microsoft Access relational database to store all of the application's data: Access is relatively easy to set up and deploy, and also leaves open the option of scaling the application to a full server-based database system such as SQL Server.

In this section we'll look at how to set up the database tables that will support the Internet classified ad system. You can also download the database file, Classified.mdb, along with the other files needed for this application, from the WROX website .