Re: MS Access -> MySQL

If you're looking for help to do it yourself, and not someone to do it for
you, I'll be glad to help.  I don't have time to be lead on a new project
right now, but I'll be glad to help you with getting started and any
questions that arise.  I can even provide hosting for you if needed (I host
several PHP and Django sites right now).

I'd highly recommend using Python and Django (http://djangoproject.com).  I
did PHP development for several years, but I don't even touch it any more
when I can help it, as Python is (IMO) a much better language.  It has
bindings for pretty much everything under the sun, so it's very expandable.
I'm currently using it to rebuild the web page and several web applications
at LCC (http://test.luna.edu), and the code is much cleaner and more
maintainable that the equivalent code in PHP.

For ACCESS->MySQL, I've done a few conversions like this, although I would
recommend using PostgreSQL instead of MySQL.  This is a really debatable
topic, but I've found pgsql to be more reliable, and just as fast, if not
faster, than MySQL.  This is just subjective though, both are solid
databases.

If you design your model in Django's ORM, then export your ACCESS data to
csv as Tim suggested (preferably tab delimited), you can import it fairly
easily w/ something like:

input_file = open("old_database.csv")
old_data = input_file.readlines()
input_file.close()

for line in old_data:
    splitted = line.split('\t')
    some_model = SomeModel()
    some_model.field1 = splitted[0]
    some_model.field2 = splitted[1]
    <etc>
    some_model.save()

If you have a really huge data set, then you might want to leave the file
open and read in one record at a time instead of loading it all into memory.

Anyways, just let us know if you have an specific questions, there's plenty
of us on this list that can help.

Matthew Bowie
Lead Programmer/DBA
Luna Community College


On Nov 29, 2007 10:01 PM, J. Marsden DeLapp <[email protected]> wrote:

> I am looking for some help with some database conversion and web
> programming tasks.
>
> One of the tasks is converting a MS access database to MySQL and some sort
> of user interface that runs on Gnu/Linux. I
> was thinking maybe Knoda for the frontend or maybe do it with PHP. I
> currently use this database in my business to
> manage projects, time sheets, expenses and billing.
>
> The second task is building a web based database for the New Mexico Solar
> Energy Association (NMSEA) http://nmsea.org
> This would include a database to track members, vendors and all kinds of
> stuff.
>
> Anyone got experience and/or a strong desire to learn?
>
> Mars
> --
> =============================================================
> J. Marsden DeLapp, PE
> President
> DeLapp & Associates, Inc. dba DeLapp Engineering(R)
> Providing lighting and power planning, design and analysis services
> for commercial, industrial and large residential facilities.
> 1190 Harrison Rd Ste 3a
> Santa Fe NM 87507
> (505) 983-5557
> http://DeLapp.com
> =============================================================
>
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