Guidance on databases

[tayjax]

I've got this tie designer flash movie i'm working on
Got it all looking nice but I'd love to have some real functionality to it

The way it works is that it has a variety of designs you choose from then you pick a colour for 3 different elements that make up the tie.

What i would like is that when you have designed your tie you could then hit "send to a friend" then your email pops up with a link that you can email to a friend so they could see the design you just created
Also I'd like a "ask for quote" button where they fill in a form with contact details quantities etc and that gets emailed to me or stored in a database with a link to their design.

Now i'm guessing the easiest way to do this will be with xml databases ?
But I currently have no knowledge of what to do or where to look?

Anyone able to point me to a good website that could walk me through the basics ?
Or what specific terms I need to search for in google to find the info i'm after ?


thanks for any help anyone can give....

[Musicman]

Hi,

from your description it seems that there is little data involved - it could be embedded in a query string. So there could be some way (with more work in the client or in the server, whichever you prefer) to just show the design from calling a link ... no database needed
Basically you would make another version of your movie with the same visual elements but all interactivity removed and replaced by code to read the query string.

About "popping up the email" vs. a form on your website: the former only works if the visitor has an email program installed - it does not work with webmail access. On the other side people who have to use web forms tend to misspell their email addy.
I tend to prefer the form and try to detect obvious mistakes (like @hotmail without the .com)

Musicman

[tayjax]

Good point - the web form does seem like a much better option...

Right so a Query String is what i need to be searching for - thanks for that
Do you know of any good tutorials along the lines of what I need - or should it be fairly obvious ?

I spotted this website of someone who seems to be doing exactly the sort of thing I had in my head except for sports kits

Looks like its a lot more indepth than I was after, but it was along these lines...
www.kit.meout.net


Quite like the idea of logging on to a page where all the peoples details and designs are stored etc....

[whispers]

I have done several projects that involve what your looking to do..

my first suggestion is to convert your project to XML.. (not for database) but for the elements of your project/ties.. I guess I dont know the specifics of your project, but if you are using images or other resources to offer as options to building your tie..

then XML may make things easier in the end.. (for updating the app without any need of Flash.. update XML with new choices/options..etc)


that being said.. as Musicman mentioned there is NOT a lot of data... so you probably do NOT need a database..

I would work on getting your current app to 'save' the choices they have picked..to an array or object or something...

a nice stable method of saving the options the user has picked...


sending that data to someone is NOT the hardest part....


on the flip side.. BUILDING the saved 'tie'...

can be as simple as grabbing the vars from the query string..

using a bit of javascript..or if you use SWF Object to embed you .swf its even easier.