Plan the music catalog application

When developing web applications, if you are using a database, designing it first is essential. The database used in this tutorial has a very simple and clear structure. It uses only two tables:

Note: The database diagram in the image above was built with MX Query Builder (an InterAKT product, also referred as QuB) to better illustrate the database structure. You do not need to build it in order to complete this tutorial.

1. The artist_art table stores data about music artists:

2. • id_art - artist ID.

   • name_art - artist name.

   • picture_art - artist picture (it stores the image filename).

   • desc_art - artist short description (biography, how they started etc.).

2. The album_alb table stores data about music albums:

3. • id_alb - album ID.

   • idart_alb - ID of the artist that released the album.

   • title_alb - album title.

   • release_year_alb - year when the album was released.

   • cover_alb - album cover (it stores the image filename).

   • rate_alb - average score (between 1and 5) to which the album was evaluated by site users.

   • votes_alb - number of site users that rated the album.

3. There is a one-to-many relation between the two tables: one artist can have more albums, while an album belongs to one artist.

To quickly create the database (structure and records), use the scripts provided in the .zip package (either .sql or .mdb) corresponding to your database server. You can find the script in the \tutorials\Music Catalog\db folder.

Before you start building the actual application, there are a few things that you should do:

1. Create a new site in Dreamweaver and make sure it is correctly configured (set the Local Info, Remote Info, and Testing Server just like for any other functional site of yours).
   
   Note: Do not skip to set the server model - in order to provide graceful degradation for your web application, MX AJAX Toolbox needs a server technology. This way, even when JavaScript is disabled in the client’s browser, your music catalog will still be available to visitors.
   The supported server models are PHP ADODB (provided by PHAkt) and PHP MySQL.
                                          

2. Do not create any files inside the new site, just leave it empty for now.

3. You will be told when to create the database connection.

4. There are two image folders in the .zip package that you will use later on: \tutorials\Music Catalog\albums\ and \tutorials\Music Catalog\artists\.  You will be told when to copy them in your site structure.

Note: For more information on configuring your site and creating the database connection, please consult the Getting started help file. This can be found inside Dreamweaver's Help menu, InterAKT -> Getting Started.

Continue with the next topic to build the AJAX site and define its structure.