Creating web forms from a database schema

Question

I'm wondering if there are any applications, preferably freeware, that can take a database configuration, and, with as little hassle as possible, create web forms for inserting data easily.

I'm finding it hard to express exactly what it is I'm after. Maybe I can talk a bit about what I need.

I have a configuration database that, at least usually, contains "the truth" about the servers in our system. It contains stuff like zone names, hostnames, different configuration items, etc, over multiple tables. Right now we're using simple INSERTs directly when adding new servers or other stuff, handling the keys and IDs ourselves. The crux is, they don't want us to develop a simple web form thingy to handle this, instead they want a tool that can generate the web form thingy. Did that make sense?

I'm not sure if anything like this exists or is reliable, but, I thought that if anyone knew, it's this community. Thanks!

Answer 1

ASP.NET has Dynamic Data, that I think fits your description. There's also SubSonic. Both are free and open source.

Answer 2

Tried Dynamic Data?

Answer 3

Besides ASP.NET dynamic data, you could also have a look at SubSonic

Answer 4

With PHP, if you have the ability to name the tables and columns as you see fit, you could try CakePHP framework, and specifically the scaffolding feature. With scaffolding turned on, the code will create CRUD forms from the schema for you.

Answer 5

As many have already stated, it depends on what technology you're working with:

• .Net 3.5 - Dynamic Data or Subsonic's Scaffolding control
• .Net 2.0 - Subsonic's Scaffolding control
• PHP - CakePHP
• Ruby - Rail's Scaffolding component

Answer 6

Here's the link for learning about SubSonic & Scaffolding http://www.subsonicproject.com/web-forms-controls/the-scaffold/ , enjoy ;)

One more link from the SubSonic forums http://monk.thelonio.us/post/Scaffold-Enhancements-in-SubSonic-21.aspx

Answer 7

"with as little hassle as possible"

have you checked things like PHP/MySQL Web Database Application Code Generator 10.02 ? or phpmyedit ?

seems to me that what everybody else proposed so far requires a fair amount of coding...

Also, have a look at phprunner. It is not free, but looking at the screenshots, it seems to fit your requirements.