So as a web programming noob I don't understand whether scripts are written in-line or if they're called from the directory to generate certain content on a page (I guess both are possible). In a hypothetical situation where there's a database of products (so many that it's more convenient to maintain a database of products/descriptions rather than have an html page for each), how could I generate the description part of the page within the center column of my formatted HTML template? Should I just dynamically generate every page with print statements that print every line of the template?

 

As an afterthought, is there a security risk involved with keeping scripts in your directory? Is there a way to prevent users from calling them outside the pages that are being generated?

 

Any info is greatly appreciated.

Well I would recommend using PHP MySQL for this kind of thing.

You are correct, it would be easier to use database to dynamically generate content, rather than having a separate html page for every product. There is the question however, how would you change details on the database?

You would be best using a open source like OSCommerce or something similar. It allows you to update product details and then makes it easy to integrate into your existing site to display the products. There is no security risk involved as server side scripting languages like php have no front end display, it generates content on the server and sends output to the browser.

Hope this information helps.

 

Regards,

 

Mike from www.everydayprint.co.uk