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Teaching and Learning with Technology
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LOCATION: HOME PAGE: DATABASES IN DISGUISE Penn State Online DirectoryPenn State mainains a searchable database of students, staff and faculty, but this particular database can be accessed by a number of different software packagages or clients. What are Database Clients?A client is a software package which lets you view data in a specific format. For some databases, such as the Penn State LDAP directory, more than one client can be use. For instance, data from the Penn State Online Directory can be viewed:
One Database Several ViewsAlthough the interfaces between a search through a browser and a search through an e-mail package may be different, they are both looking at the same data stored at ldap.psu.edu.
Additional UsesIf programmer knows enough about the LDAP database table, he or she can create other clients and utilities using the same data. For instance some services determine if a user is a student or not by checking the Access Account userid in the LDAP directory. Why is this Important?A set of data and the client/software it is viewed in do not have to be the same. Many files, especially those on the Web may be created in one software (e.g. a text editor) and viewed in another package (e.g. a web browser). Thus one set of data can be viewed or accessed by a variety of clients depending on how the data must be used. That is there is often a separation of data and presentation or viewing of the data. Next: ANGEL Course Management System
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