Building a Dynamic Web/Database Interface

摘要

This thesis examines methods for accessing information stored in a relationaldatabase from a Web Page. The stateless and connectionless nature of the Web's Hypertext Transport Protocol as well as the open nature of the Internet Protocol pose problems in the areas of database concurrency, security, speed, and performance. We examined the Common Gateway Interface, Server API, Oracle's Web/database architecture, and the Java Database Connectivity interface in terms of performance and flexibility. Oracle's approach was found to be the most robust and best performing approach currently in use, although the Java Database Connectivity interface has not yet been widely implemented. Based on our research and experience implementing a prototype, we conclude that Web/database technology is currently only appropriate for read-only type applications such as Decision Support Systems and Information Delivery Systems. The database access methods presently available cannot support more advanced capabilities of client/server type applications including client-side data validation, sophisticated user interfaces, and concurrency among multiple users.