While at the National Center for Human Genome Research (NCHGR) I built several database to HTML gateways using Sybase 11 and websql/Perl.

The Breast Cancer Information Core's (BIC) online BRCA1 Mutation database is used by genetic researchers tracking mutations on the BRCA1 Gene in a shared environment. Scientists submit updated records to the BIC committee which reviews for validity and, if appropriate, modifies the database with a point-and-click style web interface. The updated information is then immediately available to all other BIC members who can search the database by keyword. The CGI/Sybase will return search hits as well as various statistical calculations generated on-the-fly based on the data returned in the search. The implementation and presentation of the BIC database has won several Scientific Awards and has been reviewed in both Science and Nature Magazine.

Another SYBASE-to-HTML gateway involves the NCHGR Seminar Manager which allows groupware scheduling of events related to NCHGR. Authorized users can access the seminar database to find the most recent lists of events sorted by date. Events may be added, modified or deleted according to user and group permissions, and all modifications are logged for retrospective verification. Finally, when events pass, they are automatically removed from the database.

I also converted the PLS formatted CHID database to Sybase and created a web based frontend for keyword searching. Because of the size of the possible returned rows, I also implemented logic to return only a limited number of rows, but to keep a memory so that the client could click for the next set, until done.

Finally, I developed a set of CGI-Internet Database management programs which could be implemented outside of a server based authentication system. Though not as robust as commercial SQL databases, these have worked well on virtual servers and peronal homepages. As with all my scripting work, these scripts have been made freely available at Selena Sol's Public Domain Script Archive