Database abstraction layer for web enabled databases

Abstract

Developments in the information technology sector have seen the World Wide Web (www) evolve into a formidable means for connecting people at distant geographical regions. In an effort.to enhance access to information there is need for a generic tool that can enable access to different databases running on multiple platforms with the only requirement being access to this media. It is out of this need that this report documents part of the effort that was directed towards building such a Toolkit. It enumerates how an existing proprietary Toolkit for this purpose works as well as discussing the components of part of a large and ongoing efforts aimed at developing a new generation Toolkit herein referred to as the System-wide Information Network on Genetic Resources (SINGER) Toolkit for use by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centers. The Unified Modeling Language was used during design. PHP and MySQL database were used during the project to highlight how the eventual Toolkit would work.