This is an exciting time for developing websites. Every day thousands of individuals
are starting companies whose goal is to somehow use the Internet to create sales or to
share information. We at ChooseOne share that enthusiasm and endeavor to provide the
necessary tools to help those people meet their development goals.
The following is a small collection of test cases. In each, a specific set of
requirements is displayed, a Microsoft IIS Server--based solution is described and
ChooseOne's development tools which complement that solution are highlighted.
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.
Microsoft IIS support Active Server Pages (ASP's). These webpages can easily access
data stored in SQL as well as a new type of file called
XML.
SQL stores the set of data where it can be searched and then formatted to meet the
company's needs for the website.
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 development teams may change their code without forcing a major
redevelopment effort from the other.
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: 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.
Internet users are coming to expect more from web applications. With good tools
a company can satisfy these user's demands, creating a professional, attractive-looking
interface at the same time they're providing web-based content.
