Database

Management
Approach
Chapter 9

Web Access to Databases

SOTTO, MMB.

Internet
Worldwide collection of millions of interconnected
computers and computer networks that share
resources
Is used daily by most people and is an essential
portal for all organizations.
World Wide Web (Web) vast collection of digital
documents available on the Internet.
Web page digital document on the web.
Web server storage for Web pages to access the
Internet.
Web client requests a Web page from a Web
server.

Web server
A Web server requires special software to receive
and respond to requests for Web pages from Web
clients.
The dominant Web server software packages are:
Apache HTTP Server a free, open-source
package that runs with most operating systems.
Internet Information Services (IIS) a
Microsoft package that comes with many versions
of its operating systems.

Web Page
Each Web page is assigned an Internet address called a
Uniform Resource Locator (URL) identifies where
the Web page is storedboth the location of the Web
server and the name and location of the Web page on
that server.
For example:

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/i
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/i
Hypertext
ndex.html
ndex.html
Location path
Transfer
Web page
Protocol
(HTTP)

Web server

on the Web
server

name

HTTP the data communication method used by Web

clients and Web servers to exchange data on the Internet.

Web Browser
Computer program used to retrieve a Web page
from a Web client.
Examples:
Internet Explorer
Mozilla Firefox
Safari
Netscape
Opera

Web Browser

Web Browser
As shown in Figure 9-7, a user enters the Web pages URL in a
Web browser on a Web client and then sends the request for
the Web page over the Internet using HTTP and Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), which is the
standard protocol for all communication on the Internet. The
request for the Web page arrives at the Web server designated
in the transmitted URL, and the Web server locates the
requested Web page on a disk connected to the Web server
and retrieves the Web page. The Web server then responds to
the Web client by transmitting the Web page over the Internet
using HTTP and TCP/IP, and the Web browser displays the Web
page on the users screen. Note that Web clients on an intranet
bypass the Internet and directly access internal company Web
pages through the organizations Web server.

Web Page
Tags necessary codes that the Web browser
interprets to position and format the text in the
Web page (links to audio files to be played, to
graphics and animations to be displayed on the
screen, and to other files).
A Web page can also contain tags for
Hyperlinks which link one Web page to another
or link to another location in the same Web page.

Web Page
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/i
ndex.html

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)

language used to create Web Page.
You can use a program such as ColdFusion or
Adobe Dreamweaver to create the HTML code
for Web pages without needing to learn HTML.
Many programs, including Microsoft Access, have
built-in tools that convert and export objects such
as tables and queries to HTML documents.

Web Page
Static Web Pages Web pages that display the
same content for all Web clients.
At the heart of most Web processing today are
activitiessuch as paying bills, ordering
merchandise, buying and selling stocks, and
bidding in online auctionsfor which the Web
pages need to change depending on the Web
clients input and responses; these business
activities are called electronic commerce (ecommerce).
Dynamic Web pages are pages whose content
changes in response to the different inputs and
choices made by Web clients.

Dynamic Web Page

includes, or triggers, instructions to tell the Web
server how to process the page (server-side
extensions or server-side scripts) and possibly
other instructions for the Web browser to process
(client-side
extensions orServer-side
client-side
scripts).
Client-side extensions
extensions
can be embedded in HTML
usually separately executed
documents or contained in
programs.
separate files that are
created using programming
referenced within the HTML
development frameworks,
documents.
such as ASP.NET and Cold can change the user
Fusion
interface in response to user
input actions.
JavaScript and VBScript

Server-side extension
Web servers must have a mechanism for
communicating with server-side extensions.
Common Gateway Interface (CGI)
Application Program Interface (API)

Usually include interaction with databases to send

Web clients requested data from databases and to
update databases with data supplied by Web
clients.
Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)
Java Database
Connectivity (JDBC)
ADO.NET

Three-tier Architecture

Complications for Database

Processing
HTTP is inherently a stateless protocol
Web server responds to a Web client request for a Web page by
delivering the page, the connection between the two is closed and
the Web server retains no information about the request or the
Web client.

Consider a scenario, the vendors Web server must

somehow remember the key data from many different
Web pages, even though each delivered Web page is
stateless.
Organizations use several techniques to remember key
data supplied by a Web client.
Cookies (small files written on a Web clients hard drive by a Web
server)
Hidden form fields

Web for Database Processing

Benefits
They can transfer data to
and from their databases to
suppliers, customers, and
others outside the company.
This provides current
information in a timely way
to those needing the
information.
A company can allow
customers to place orders
that directly update the
organizations database and
trigger the processing
required to fulfill the orders.
Web clients can access an
organizations Web pages at
their convenience 24-7.

Trade-offs
Increased complexities
Cost of maintaining an
always available Web
presence
Reliance on the Internet
with potential data
communication contention
difficulties
Increased security
exposure.