[Tutor] databases

[Andre' Walker-Loud]

Hi All,

I am completely new to databases as well as using python to access/create databases.  I started googling about it and found so much info, I wasn't sure where to begin to answer my first question.  So I thought I would query this group by asking a question I am sure has been asked before - but you all are so friendly, I thought I would give it a try.

I have databases (many of them) which I want to manipulate, averaging data, merging databases, etc.

Do I need to install separate modules to access the databases?

Do I need to know the specific style the databases were created in to open manipulate them with python (2.7)?  I ask this because with xml files, I was able to just use 

from xml.dom import minidom

and then by trial and error in an interactive session, I could figure out how to walk through the xml file to find what I wanted.  I am wondering if I can do something similar with a database, or if there are more pre-defined formats.  I do not actually know what format my databases are in (someone else wrote the c-code to create them).


While waiting for suggestions, I have started to read Alan Gauld's tutorial on the subject

http://www.alan-g.me.uk/tutor/index.htm



Thanks,

Andre