TYPO3: Can I pull from another database on the same server?

Question

I have an alternate database (the one I'd really like to use instead of the tables I moved to TYPO3). That is full of the information I want on my view. Is it possible to pull from a specified database? And, can anyone provide a newer (6.1 is what i'm on) [English] tutorial on rendering database information to a page?

page.20.subparts {

  typocontent = CONTENT
  typocontent {
    select {
      pidInList = 20
      ### FROM myDatabase.myTable ###
      where = colpos=1
      orderBy = sorting
    }

Also, constructive criticism is welcome as I'm still pretty sure I'm not using the monster correctly at all. I still don't get all the backend tabs and menus. So far I've just been editing the template settings to make things "do what I want them to do", which from what I have seen, is very wrong. But I don't normally design sites like this (CMS with Backend). I'm used to just straight directory/file creation and code editing. This is my first venture into not using PHP/C# to get the info I need and send it to a view.

Answer 1

You will need to install the system extension dbal. It comes with a manual: http://docs.typo3.org/typo3cms/extensions/dbal/latest/

This will allow you to use a different database additionally to the main database.