Thread: managing web form data

hi everyone,

this is my first post and i'm glad to be part of the community

i'm new to web development, so i'm looking for some general pointers/ideas that will help get me closer to a solution. here's what i need:

- a web form that allows users to upload files (mostly Word files and PDFs)
- a database that'll store the form data and associated files
- a way (as automatic as possible) of saving all of the form data submitted over time into a single excel spreadsheet

a couple issues i realize i have to address are validation (client- and server-side) and security. i'd appreciate any suggestions on resources/scripting languages/already existing open-source alternatives that will help me achieve this. please let me know if you need more specifics and thanks in advance!!!

1) Learn a little about doing it yourself, or you'll have to hire someone. Putting someone else's form on your ssite is asking for trouble. If you can't read the code, there may be a back door in it, allowing the author full access to your site.

2) Don't store files in a database - store the path and name of the file. Store the file as a file on the computer's storage (hard drive).

3) You don't, you create the spreadsheet when you need it. PEAR has a nice xls file library. You store data in a database, you present it in a spreadsheet (or other file format).

Language? Javascript on the client side, maybe with jQuery, PHP or ASP on the server side, depending on whether you're on a Linux or Windows server. (Linux/PHP is the setup of choice.)

Originally Posted by Rukbat

1) Learn a little about doing it yourself, or you'll have to hire someone. Putting someone else's form on your ssite is asking for trouble. If you can't read the code, there may be a back door in it, allowing the author full access to your site.

2) Don't store files in a database - store the path and name of the file. Store the file as a file on the computer's storage (hard drive).

3) You don't, you create the spreadsheet when you need it. PEAR has a nice xls file library. You store data in a database, you present it in a spreadsheet (or other file format).

Language? Javascript on the client side, maybe with jQuery, PHP or ASP on the server side, depending on whether you're on a Linux or Windows server. (Linux/PHP is the setup of choice.)

awesome! thanks for the tips and pointers rukbat. this'll give me a great roadmap once i settle in to really start this project. i get what you're saying about how data is stored in a database and then exported to a spreadsheet when/how needed. thanks again