| HTML
text vs Database data |
The Internet was designed to transmit
raw text data in a standard language called HTML. Browsers are designed
to interpret and present this text information but were not designed to
display binary data, the kind of data used in multimedia files or any other application data.
To present this binary data, specialized
applications are created and deployed to operate with a Web Browser. In
the Internet context, these applications are called helper or plug-in applications.
For example, to display formatted text documents, an application called
Adobe Acrobat was developed; to play videos on the web, specialized applications
like RealPlayer are employed.
|
| When
HTML is not enough |
HTML has become the standard for displaying
information on the Internet, but is not as well-suited to sending and formatting
database data.
The solution supported by most of the major
software companies, including Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle has been Extensible
Markup Language or XML. XML is to HTML as database data is to text, however,
XML contains no formatting instructions itself, only the structure for
data sets. Thus, it is intended to work together with HTML to provide the
formatting capabilities.
The major problems with this approach are
1) the difficulty in creating a true XML industry standard, 2) XML cannot solve the inherent complexity of interactive database applications, 3) the additional
complexities of combining XML and HTML, and 4) it is very network intensive,
requiring higher bandwidth or resulting in slower transmissions and broken
pipes.
|
| Other
specialized viewers |
A look at the success and effectiveness
of Adobe Acrobat Reader and RealPlayer would suggest a similar approach
for data would be far more efficient and easier to implement. This "standard
viewer" approach solves several problems including;
-
eliminate compatibility problems
between browsers
-
greater speed of data transmission
with less bandwidth required
-
a user friendly development
environment.(WYSIWYG)
Like Adobe Acrobat Reader and RealPlayer,
once downloaded, a specialized data viewer would be there to receive and
interact with any data sets requested from remote databases.
The benefits of this approach increase
with each increase in the number of connections to a database and the number
of records being extracted from or submitted to the database. Thus, any
situation where users needed to manipulate database data by sorting, adding, deleting, modifying, drilling, analyzing and reporting, and either send data sets to a remote database or
request data sets would benefit from this technology. Every day office work requires more than a dynamic view of database data.
|
|
A fast and simple tool
to format and present your
Web database information
Take the AstroMark
Tour
| Standardized
data viewer |
The AstroMark Universal Database Reader
is a browser helper application that provides a cross browser and cross
platform facility to format and present web database information in a business friendly way.
This standardized data viewer can be used
for many common and repetitive tasks, as well as, complex applications
across a broad array of industries. The amount of structured data exchanged
over the Internet could easily exceed the amount of document-based content
being transmitted. Thus, the demand for such a viewer is potentially much
larger than that for Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader.
One of the reasons the Internet has such
a profound affect on companies is the ease with which business information
such as product lists and other product and service related information
can be sent to and accessed from remote locations.
Most business database applications can
be easily redesigned for the Internet because in most cases, company database applications
have already been designed, deployed, and operational. The process of taking
your business applications to the Web can be easy, fast, and painless, or it
can be quite difficult and expensive depending on the tools you choose
to use.
|
|
