/* Interface Creator www.bioinformatics.org/phplabware 6 September 2014 release By Santosh Patnaik, MD, PhD GPL license Based on DaDaBik version 3.2 by Eugenio Tacchini - http://www.dadabik.org */ WHAT IS THIS The Interface Creator allows one to configure the way HTML forms used for interactions with MySQL databases appear. It also allows one to browse and interact (search, edit, delete, export or insert) with the MySQL data itself. This version is largely based on DaDaBik, version 3.2 (released around year 2005). DIFFERENCES FROM DADABIK 3.2 1. XHTML 1.0 strict compatibility (UTF-8 encoding) 2. magic quotes ON not required any more 3. Possibility to have fields of multiple-select or multiple-checkboxes type 4. Bugfixes - field of file type can be a required field; attached files are deleted when records are deleted; a few minor ones 5. Table-specific file upload subdirectories 6. Simplified file structure, smaller number of files, and less non-redundant code 7. Ability to pass extra SELECT clause when retrieving values from a foreign table for building select menu options 8. Can be used as a 'backend' by using popup links from your custom frontend for index_short.php (the regular file is index.php). Index_short.php does not have headers or footers. 9. Minor improvements to style, redirections after login. 10. Option to view details, edit, etc., (not insert) for a record in pop-up windows. 11. Protection of admin pages irrespective of other authentication. 12. Auto-login 13. User (ID_user) re-assignment 14. Copy - details of an existing record into a new record REQUIREMENTS Webserver with PHP 4.3 or higher (tested with 5.5) and MySQL 4.1 or higher (tested with 4.13 and 5.5) SUPPORT http://www.bioinformatics.org/phplabware. Interface Creator is maintained as a utility for the OrderSys and LabStoRe PHP softwares at http://www.bioinformatics.org/phplabware. FRESH INSTALLATION 1. Please check elsewhere on how to set up a MySQL account and to use it to design and generate your database tables. ONLY after the tables are set up, even if they do not contain any data, can the Interface Creator system be set up. Please check elsewhere on how to do so. You may want to use the free web application - phpmyadmin - www.phpmyadmin.net. 2. Open config.php, immediately outside the interface_creator folder, and insert the right values as described there. Language-specific settings from the include/languages/english.php (in unmodified DaDaBik), etc., files are in this file now. 3. Move the interface_creator folder to the right place in your web directory. If you want, you can rename the folder. The web address of the interface creator depends on the name you give to the folder, as wel as on where it is situated in the web directory. If named as 'interface_creator' in, say, a folder named 'stocks' inside the root directory, the address will be http://your.domain.com/stocks/interface_creator 4. Browse to the administration section at http://your.domain.com/stocks/interface_creator/admin.php to add tables whose data you wish to work with using the HTML forms. As mentioned earlier, these tables need to already be there in the MySQL database. Once you add the tables to the interface creator, the interface creator will generate new MySQL tables (one for each added table) named with the 'dadabik_' prefix (e.g., 'dadabik_cells' for the table 'cells'; a different prefix value can be set in config.php.). Once the tables have been added ('installed'), you can start configuring the forms using the links provided. 5. Read help.htm for help and securing the Interface Creator. UPGRADE 1. Make a copy of the old 'uploads' folder and 'config.php' file that are within Interface Creator. 2. Replace all files of the old Interface Creator with the new ones. 4. Replace the 'uploads' folder and 'config.php' file within Interface Creator with the copies made in #1, above.