I’d like to know if it’s MSSql or MySQL. Coz I’d prefer MySQL myself.
i think, it wouldn’t be too hard to write the activex control that adds this capability (or find someone who can do it for you). though it might sound funny, for this task i’d recommend Delphi against VC or VB, as it is not too complicated for activex creation, doesn’t require an external runtime engine, and has a wide selection of db drivers. any experienced Delphi programmer will write you that utility in evening or two.
i’d not recommend php as an intermediate, as max-apache-php-db-php-apache-max chain will add much lag to interface: connection directly from max via activex control would speed things up greatly.
i’ve recently succeeded embedding Flash activex into studio max environment, and can assure that maxcript<->activex connection works perfectly both ways.