Question

OK,
I’m not entirely clear how to ask this question, so please feel free to edit it.

Here’s the idea.

I have a database that I think may be useful to webmasters.
I would like to offer, as a paid service, the inclusion of some interface with the database.
I want my database to dynamically populate drop-down option menus.

I understand how to do it when the database, requesting html/javascript and the processing php are all on the same server.

I’m not so sure whether this can be done if the requesting html html/javascript are on the webmaster’s server, and the processing phps and the database are on my server.

I’m also not sure how to make sure that only authorized users can hook up to my database.

At this point, I am looking for a macro-level solution, not the code implementation.

Thanks!

Answer 1

My approach to this would be to write a web service (whether SOAP, XMLRPC or REST) that requires the users to submit an API key with each request. The service would validate the key, talk to the database, and return results to the user in some standard format. The API key would (obviously) be unique for each user/subscription.