Building Database-Enabled Web Applications With IDC - High-Performance Web Databases: Design, Development, and Deployment - page 521

Chapter 35

Building
Database-Enabled
Web Applications
With IDC

Ido Gileadi

T W W W ( W )

HE ORLD IDE EB THE EB HAS BEEN PRIMARILY CONSTRUCTED

HTML . FROM These pages generally contain text, graphics,

and hyperlinks that give Net users the ability to search and view informa-
tion easily with the click of a mouse. The static page always displays the
same information regardless of individual user selections or personal pref-
erences. Furthermore, the static page displays the entire range of informa-
tion available to it without consideration of the specific requirements of
unique, busy individual users accessing the Web site.

STATIC PAGES

In recent years, there has been a strong movement toward a more
dynamic approach for Web page design. Web pages can now be created on
the fly, customized to an individual viewer's requirements, and linked with
database servers to provide accurate, up-to-the-minute data. There are
many techniques for creating dynamic Web pages. Some of the technolo-
gies available involve creation of a Web page on the fly, based on selections
a viewer makes in previous pages. Active pages and CGI scripting can easily
achieve these tasks.

In many cases, creating dynamic Web pages that contain subsets of data
based on the viewer's selection of a query is the ideal. A simple example of
this type of application is a telephone directory publication on the Web.
Such an application requires the ability to select and display one or more
entries from the database, based on a selection (query) the user makes on
the screen. Most likely, the selection will involve a last name and/or first
name combination.