<p>I have an Access database in which I drop the table and then create the table afresh.  However, I need to be able to test for the table in case the table gets dropped but not created (i.e. when someone stops the DTS package just after it starts -roll-eyes- ).  If I were doing this in the SQL database I would just do:</p>

<pre><code>IF (EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sysobjects WHERE name = 'Table-Name-to-look-for'))
BEGIN
drop table 'Table-Name-to-look-for'
END
</code></pre>

<p>But how do I do that for an Access database?</p>

<p>Optional answer: is there a way to have the DTS package ignore the error and just go to the next step rather than checking to see if it exists?</p>

<p>SQL Server 2000</p>

I would reccomend sticking to what you know - PHP is more than capable.
I used to play a game called
Hyperiums
- a text based browser game like yours - which is created using Java (it's web-based quivalent is JSP?) and servlets. It works fairly well (it has had downtime issues but those were more related to it's running on a pretty crap server).
As for which framework to use - why not create your own? Spend a good amount of time pre-coding deciding how you're going to handle various things - such as langauge support: you could use a phrase system or seperate langauge-specific templates. Third party frameworks are probably better tested than one you make but they're not created for a specific purpose, they're created for a wide range of purposes.