How can database results be used in a Web application?
The use of database query results is somewhat dependent on the type of access method used. Many of the available tools, such as gateway products or codeless interfaces (those that implement template files) provide reasonably strong data-formatting and report-generation capabilities. Often, this is all that the application and users require. But what about cases where you want to do some additional processing on the data? Suppose that you need to perform some statistical processing on the returned data. What if you want to generate charts, maps, or graphs? How about using the results to populate a spreadsheet? These are instances in which custom CGI programming still offers an advantage over Web- application development tools. One of the primary strengths of CGI programs is the capability to extend the capabilities of the Web server not only by adding access to a database, but by providing the capability to integrate other applications as well. So, you now can develop applications that
