It’s rare these days when you need to create a static website with nothing but
flat content, without user logins or on-line purchases. More likely, you’ll be
authorizing purchases, logging in users, providing dynamic financial content based
upon a user’s selection, looking up a part in an on-line catalog, etc. It’s that
dynamic aspect of a website, combined with the ability to bring in large amounts
of data that starts making a website solution look like a website-plus-database
solution. And few database platforms can match the versatility of SQL Server.
We provide here a variety of test cases in which companies need a SQL Server
solution and how ChooseOne's tools fit into that solution.
Case 1: A company has a point-of-sale system on a web interface, allowing
customers to make purchases on-line. There is an finite inventory of products to be sold and
it is important not to promise more than can be delivered in terms of availability. The
inventory changes rapidly and many simulataneous on-line users need to be supported.
At least one SQL Server with one or more Microsoft IIS webservers are the natural
choice. The inventory can be maintained in SQL as well as quantities, current prices
and tax/shipping information as indexed by state or zip code.
Static web pages combine with the output from real-time SQL queries to create an accurate
picture of products with their respective availability and price. Marketing data can
be retrieved from the system as well as a variety of other data as appropriate for
each area of the business.
If there is a separate accounting system, sales orders are
exported on
a recurring basis in that system's expected format.
Case 2: A company wants to publish news content, financial data, or
any variety of formatted or unformatted web content. Chart graphics are needed to
visually convey numeric data.
SQL not only provides a way of logically storing a diverse set of data, it is first
and foremost an excellent reporting language. Raw business data can be searched and
then formatted to meet the company's needs for the website. A novel method of reporting
this data is in a format called
XML.
SQL queries can generate that
XML content
and webpages can refer to the data within
those responses. By separating the actual data from the webpage layout using XML,
either SQL or web developer may change their code without forcing a major redevelopment
effort.
Likewise, numeric data can be exported to XML format and
web graphics
dynamically created
from these files. Once again, separating the data from the graphics-generating
code enables both developers to quickly make changes to keep up with the latest
business needs.
Case 3: An IT department needs to manage several databases and
webservers to keep up with drive space and log file reporting. Files must be moved,
tracked and archived.
SQL Server comes with a scheduler. Several jobs can be created for different
recurring times and to perform many different tasks. SQL code can be written to
conditionally
move, delete,
create and otherwise manage system files and the available drive space.
Case 4: A web application needs to store a user's preferences
and dynamically create a folder-based interface with tabs that are marked dynamically
with the text the user has specified. It is important that this be automated so that
employees aren't required to generate these custom graphics.
SQL Server can store the user preferences and return this information to an ASP
webpage. Instead of referencing a standard graphic file the ASP page dynamically
generates the graphic
for the top of the tab folder with the user's specified text.
Effective automation of system tasks is often crucial to the success of a company.
Through the use of good platforms like SQL Server and the development of automated
routines and code, minimal intervention should be required.
