Adding an Event Theme/Layer

[Bryon]

Question:
As an ArcView user, I am used to being able to integrate what is called an
event theme into a map view.  An event theme is nothing more than a
database with x and y attribute fields.  The application sees these fields
and maps the points.  My question is is there a way to map a database
using PHP Mapscript to create a Layer?  My databases are generally in
dBase format.

Does anybody have any suggestions or examples?

Sincerely,
Bryon