phpMyEdit Login Failed?

[F0u4d]

I Recently downloaded phpMyEdit which is a script to edit Mysql databases through a script.. I Downloaded it from sourceforge http://garr.dl.sourceforge.net/project/phpmyedit/phpMyEdit/5.1/phpMyEdit-5.1.tar.gz since their official website has a broken download link.. http://phpmyedit.org

so i uploaded the script to my server.. I read the installation doc, and it doesnt require to add anythin to anyfile just open phpMyEditSetup.php in the browser and add my hostname, username and password on it, the problem is that it says login failed - try again... i tried it on 2 different hosts and it's not working :S and im pretty sure that the usernames, passwords and hostname of the database are correct.

Is there anyone that faced this problem before and found a solution? if so can i get some help here please!

Help is much appreciated! Thanks in advance

[ApacheTech]

Can you log on to the database, using the credentials you're using, with something like cPanel / phpMyAdmin?

[F0u4d]

Yes i can, and i also have a php script that posts rows from the db and connects to db normal without any problem.. and also i have a script to add rows to the db, its connecting and posting the info perfectly... but i found this phpMyEdit and it seems great script to edit the database fast... :/

[traq]

it seems great script to edit the database fast... :/
really? doesn't seem fast at all, to me, if you can't even get it to work.

Actually, a lot of things on that site seem broken. I'd be suspicious that it might not be supported anymore. The most recent date I could see was 2009, the parent site (platon.sk) doesn't even mention "phpMyEdit," and their "opensource" subdomain is unresponsive.

Was there some particular feature that interested you? In general, I've found phpMyAdmin to be a great tool for managing MySQL...

:)

[ApacheTech]

I can see the advantages in phpMyEdit over phpMyAdmin.

I've found this one: http://www.mysqlajaxtableeditor.com/

It seems to be similar to phpMyEdit and has a lot more functions. It's also, more importantly, still supported.

[ApacheTech]

There's also: http://phpcodegenie.sourceforge.net/

But there's no demo on the site that I can see. It's got some good reviews though.

[djr33]

As track said, phpMyAdmin is the standard and works well. Why doesn't it work in this case? The script you're trying to use is clearly outdated and problematic. Is there a reason you want to keep it?

[traq]

I can see the advantages in phpMyEdit over phpMyAdmin.
I'm honestly interested.
I couldn't figure out much from their site, and I'm not quite ready to tear apart the code to find out. :)

[ApacheTech]

Just look at the demo...

http://www.phpmyedit.org/demo/

Granted I've never used phpMyAdmin other than on cPanel on free hosting sites, but it's never been as user friendly as that. Bare in mind, I've been using Access since WFW 3.11, it was only last year I'd ever heard of a varchar. :p

From the demo, it seems to add a nice user friendly, almost Access style front end. to the database. It just seems a lot neater for data entry.

[djr33]

There are skins available for PHPMyAdmin if you want them.

And why should it be particularly user-friendly? It shouldn't be so user-friendly that users don't know what they're doing. It's not hard to use. It might be a little boring to use (as I'm well aware, having spent cumulative hours working in it), but it does the job.

When you're working with something as critical as a database, stability and control are much more important than the UI.

PHPMyAdmin is very significantly easier than learning MySQL itself, and I don't think anyone who doesn't know at least the basics of MySQL should be playing with PHPMyAdmin, unless it's purely for the purpose of updating data. But in that case, I'd strongly suggest using a web-based interface created specifically for that purpose (forms, etc.) because: 1) it will always be easier to learn; and 2) it eliminates any risk of doing the wrong thing. PHPMyAdmin is not that. It's fully featured and I think necessarily complex. That doesn't mean it's the right tool for every job, but it is for many of them.

I don't see anything special in that demo. However, again, there are nicer skins available for PHPMyAdmin if you'd like.

(The fact that PHPMyEdit didn't survive is evidence that it is unnecessary-- designers are generally happy with PHPMyAdmin.)

[traq]

the "export" features are kinda nice, but they're also really easy to code yourself as needed.

Other than that, it definitely seems less fully-featured than phpMyAdmin - maybe I missed it, but I didn't see any way to create|alter|whatever the tables themselves, and the UI seems "clunky" (but maybe that's just because it's a few years old).

I guess it could be a nice starting point for purely data-entry situations (where you don't actually want users to have full DB access), but, as Daniel says, it would be better to write a task-specific UI in that case.

I would like to hear from the OP about what caught their interest.

[djr33]

The specific format export options are nice, and a couple might be hard to code (eg, MS Word), but I would expect to find plugins for PHPMyAdmin that do the same thing. And I agree with traq that in general they're not hard to code yourself, and that will give you more freedom anyway to get whatever specific format you want.

Indeed, the lack of being able to edit the structure is the real problem, and the real reason that PHPMyAdmin is (to the extent that it is) somewhat unfriendly: lots of features.

This system looks more like a data management system, something for orders at an online store or checking the stock of cars at an auto dealership. But not a development system for the database.

Does anyone know if you can turn off some features in PHPMyAdmin so that some users can't edit structure, etc.? That might be useful.

[ApacheTech]

As a point of interest, which may be relevant to the original poster's problem as well; when using cPanel on a free hosting site, is there any method to improve the front end of phpMyAdmin that is available. Is there a "go to" addon or something that makes it easy to input data.

Structural integrity is very important, I agree, but I think even more though in many ways is the actual data within the database. If there's no user friendly way of inputting that data then the database falls at the first hurdle. It's something I'm interested in for a project of mine as well. I'm using Access for my father's website, we've both been teaching Access for a long time and know it inside out, but I'm in half a mind to switch over to MySQL so we can host the site from the cloud rather than my server rig. In order to do this, we'd need an Access style front end with all the functionality that Access provides. Something like this phpMyEdit would offer that (to a degree), but if there's another, better way to use MySQL like you would use Access then that would be great.

[traq]

The specific format export options are nice, and a couple might be hard to code (eg, MS Word) ...I thought so too, at first, but if you download it, you'll notice that it's just HTML with a MS Word DTD. :) those boys in Redmond are slick...

Does anyone know if you can turn off some features in PHPMyAdmin so that some users can't edit structure, etc.? That might be useful.Seeing as how it's just a big PHP app, I would bet you could. Probably not very easily/cleanly, though.
Strike that, I misread your question. _Yes_, it's as simple as creating another MySQL user/password, with lesser privileges.


is there any method to improve the front end of phpMyAdmin ... something that makes it easy to input data.I don't think there's anything very difficult about clicking on the database name, then clicking on the [Insert] tab.

Good table/field comments make a big difference, too. I've had several clients handle their own data entry via phpMyAdmin (those who're already familiar with the basics of data entry); the biggest tripping point is usually using [tab] instead of [enter] to move to the next field.

[F0u4d]

Well thank you guys for help..
I have phpmyadmin on my site ofc.. but i saw that phpmyedit is much easier to edit a specific table and its more user friendly, and u dont need access to ur whole cpanel and phpmyadmin to edit it, all u need ur hostname, username and password.
But it's weird, i tried older version and also not working.
I'm gonna try the ones u guys gave me, Thanks Again!

[djr33]

Good points, traq.

ApacheTech, I think it's incredibly biasing if you've only used free (or even cheap) hosting accounts with it. Honestly, that's most of my experience too, but considering how awful most control panels are and so forth, I don't see why you'd expect much more from that. If you ran your own dedicated server, you should have a much better experience with PHPMyAdmin. But it also sounds like you just having adjusted to PHPMyAdmin, having not used it much. I don't love it, but it gets the job done. If it's anything I'm going to use to input data, I write my own script for that. I use PHPMyAdmin to create tables, delete specific entries by hand, backup, import, etc. I use PHP (and web interfaces I make) for more day-to-day tasks.



I have phpmyadmin on my site ofc.. but i saw that phpmyedit is much easier to edit a specific table and its more user friendly, and u dont need access to ur whole cpanel and phpmyadmin to edit it, all u need ur hostname, username and password.So is your goal to manage your database or to manage your data? There's a big difference. PHPMyAdmin is designed for managing the database-- structure, backups, etc. (see above).
But if you want to deal with inputting entries, changing values, etc., then as we've described really the best option is to use something else, probably something you build yourself. As a generic solution, I think PHPMyAdmin with a lower access account might be a good idea. It would clean up some of the complicated options and let you get right to the business of editing the data. You should also be able to create just a username and a password. Many free/cheap hosts have an elaborate login system that really gets in the way of easy access (but may be good for security), so you could look into alternative hosts or maybe just another way to access it that is faster. PHPMyAdmin itself doesn't have any complex login requirements (except that it often times out after inactivity, maybe 10 minutes-- you could probably turn that off if you want).
What do you spend most of your database time doing? Adding new entries? Is it for lots of different tables? Or just one (or a few)? If it's something managable, you should really consider building your own system in PHP for it. It'll make your editing life easier.

[F0u4d]

really? doesn't seem fast at all, to me, if you can't even get it to work.

Actually, a lot of things on that site seem broken. I'd be suspicious that it might not be supported anymore. The most recent date I could see was 2009, the parent site (platon.sk) doesn't even mention "phpMyEdit," and their "opensource" subdomain is unresponsive.

Was there some particular feature that interested you? In general, I've found phpMyAdmin to be a great tool for managing MySQL...

:)



As track said, phpMyAdmin is the standard and works well. Why doesn't it work in this case? The script you're trying to use is clearly outdated and problematic. Is there a reason you want to keep it?



So is your goal to manage your database or to manage your data? There's a big difference. PHPMyAdmin is designed for managing the database-- structure, backups, etc. (see above).
But if you want to deal with inputting entries, changing values, etc., then as we've described really the best option is to use something else, probably something you build yourself. As a generic solution, I think PHPMyAdmin with a lower access account might be a good idea. It would clean up some of the complicated options and let you get right to the business of editing the data. You should also be able to create just a username and a password. Many free/cheap hosts have an elaborate login system that really gets in the way of easy access (but may be good for security), so you could look into alternative hosts or maybe just another way to access it that is faster. PHPMyAdmin itself doesn't have any complex login requirements (except that it often times out after inactivity, maybe 10 minutes-- you could probably turn that off if you want).
What do you spend most of your database time doing? Adding new entries? Is it for lots of different tables? Or just one (or a few)? If it's something managable, you should really consider building your own system in PHP for it. It'll make your editing life easier.

I agree, phpMyAdmin is a great tool for MANAGING MySql which is not my case... I have phpmyadmin on my server and i use it to manage database.
Yes, what i wanted from using this phpmyedit is to manage my database data.. Add/Edit/Delete Rows :)
I'm just back from university and i'm gonna take a look at the scripts ApacheTech posted.
Thanks to all of you! :)

[djr33]

Ok, that makes a lot more sense. Well, post what you find. A single solution probably won't be optimal for any particular use, although it will be easier than writing your own. (But personally I'd still probably write my own.)

[ApacheTech]

I don't think there's anything very difficult about clicking on the database name, then clicking on the [Insert] tab.

Yes, that is good for someone who has seen or even heard of MySQL before. I'm looking for something for a 65 year old who's retired from teaching ICT for the last 30 years to use daily. We've used Access since the days of Cirrus and as said, although phpMyAdmin is ok for managing the structure, it doesn't look or behave anything like Access for managing the data. Especially because we need a seamless transfer from system to system. I don't think phpMyAdmin was ever designed to be used as a data entry terminal.

The links I've posted are nearly half way to what I was thinking of and short of writing a bespoke DMS, I believe the OP is looking for similar. Sorry if I do seem biased in this, if it was for me then I'd learn phpMyAdmin back to front and put up with it, but from the experience I've had with different DMSs, Access does it so much better than any of the others.

[djr33]

I'm looking for something for a 65 year old who's retired from teaching ICT for the last 30 years to use daily.So make them a custom interface. That's really the best option. Even PHPMyEdit or something like that is bound to be more confusing than something specifically designed for them.

[traq]

Sorry if I do seem biased in this ...
no problem. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm attacking your position; just discussing.

If you're specifically looking for something that looks/acts like Access, then I completely agree.

And you're right about phpMyAdmin not being ideal for mass data entry; I usually write INSERTS and run them via the [SQL] tab... :) But, as Daniel says, if I need a data entry mechanism, I usually write something myself. That way, I can streamline things as much as possible, and I can incorporate basic validation into the process.

[F0u4d]

Hey guys, i downloaded and tried the free version of http://www.mysqlajaxtableeditor.com/ its nice and exactly what i want... but im facing a problem and i can't really get it fixed :/

in table i have a field with html codes they are working fine in editing them using the script and work good on the database (phpmyadmin) ... but where the codes appearing in the script in the main page before i click edit.. they are being transformed to html and i want to see them as codes...

the main page that i edit it to put my table rows looks like that http://pastebin.com/CLY3r1nL
i think should add htmlspecialchars somewhere but i dont know where :/
can i get some help here ? :) Thanks.

PS: I don't think i could write my own script :P i'm still new in php and i only know some basic stuff, wishing one day i can be able to write my own script like you guys do :)

[F0u4d]

so frustrating i can't get it fixed :/
any help guys? please.

[traq]

htmlspecialchars() should go right before you print - where, exactly, depends on how that script is written. Have a look and see if you can figure it out. Make sure you keep an un-altered copy in case you break things. I'll check it out if I have time later this afternoon.