Unit2_Ex3

Overview

This project implements a RESTful web service architecture divided into a Service Provider and a Service Client. The provider exposes two PHP API endpoints that query a MySQL students database and return JSON responses — one listing available tables and one returning all records from a specified table. A separate HTML/jQuery client consumes these endpoints asynchronously via AJAX, rendering results to the page without a full reload. All database access is encapsulated in a reusable StudentsDB_Access OOP class.

Features

• terb_Tables_API.php — REST endpoint returning a JSON-encoded list of database tables
• terb_Records_API.php — REST endpoint accepting a tableName parameter and returning all matching records as JSON
• StudentsDB_Access OOP class encapsulating all MySQL operations (showDatabases, showTables, displayRecords, selectOne)
• jQuery AJAX client (terb_Records_Client.html) consuming the Records API and rendering results dynamically
• jQuery AJAX client (terb_Tables_Client.html) consuming the Tables API without a page reload
• Standalone API tester pages for direct browser-based endpoint testing
• Single-record lookup view (DisplayOne.html + terb_displayOneRecord_OOP.php) using POST by ID
• Cyberpunk-themed CSS UI with neon glow effects applied across all views

Screenshots

Home Page

Database Output

Code Highlights

// ServiceProvider/terb_Records_API.php — REST endpoint returning JSON records
include('classes/StudentsDB_Access.php');

$studentsDB = new StudentsDB_Access();

// Accept table name from GET or POST request
$table = $_REQUEST['tableName'];

// Query the database via the OOP class
$DB_Result = $studentsDB->displayRecords($table);

$data = array();

// Build associative array from result set
while ($row = $DB_Result->fetch_assoc()) {
    $data[] = $row;
}

// Return data as JSON to the client
print(json_encode($data));

Challenges & Solutions

Challenge: Decoupling the client from direct database access while keeping the API stateless and simple.
Solution: All SQL logic is isolated inside the StudentsDB_Access class; the API endpoints instantiate the class, call a single method, and immediately serialize the result to JSON — keeping each endpoint to under 15 lines.

Challenge: Consuming the JSON response in the browser and displaying it without a page reload.
Solution: The HTML clients use jQuery’s $.ajax() with a .done() callback that iterates the returned data array and writes formatted output into a designated <span id="aMessage"> element, keeping the UI fully decoupled from the server response format.