Chapter 28

1

Chapter 29

Web Technology and DBMSs

Transparencies

2

Chapter 28
-

Objectives

•
Basics of Internet, Web, HTTP, HTML,
URLs.

•
Difference between two
-
tier and three
-
tier client
-
server architecture.

•
Advantages and disadvantages of Web
as a database platform.

•
Approaches for integrating databases
into Web:

–
Scripting Languages

–
Common Gateway Interface (CGI)

–
HTTP Cookies

3

Chapter 28
-

Objectives

–
Extending the Web Server

–
Java and JDBC, SQLJ, Servlets, and JSP

–
Microsoft Web Solution Platform: ASP and
ADO

–
Oracle Internet Platform.

4

Introduction

•
Web
:

the

most

popular

and

powerful

networked

information

system

to

date
.


•
As

architecture

of

Web

was

designed

to

be

platform
-
independent,

can

significantly

lower

deployment

and

training

costs
.


•
Organizations

using

Web

as

strategic

platform

for

innovative

business

solutions,

in

effect

becoming

Web
-
centric
.

5

Introduction

•
Many

Web

sites

today

are

file
-
based

where

each

Web

document

is

stored

in

separate

file
.


•
For

large

sites,

this

can

lead

to

significant

management

problems
.

•
Also many Web sites now contain more
dynamic information, such as product and
pricing data.

•
Maintaining such data in both a database
and in separate HTML files is problematic.

•
Accessing database directly from Web
would be a better approach.

6


Internet

Worldwide

collection

of

interconnected

networks
.


•
Began

in

late

‘
60
s

in

ARPANET,

a

US

DOD

project,

investigating

how

to

build

networks

that

could

withstand

partial

outages
.


•
Starting

with

a

few

nodes,

Internet

estimated

to

have

over

100

million

users

in

1997
,

and

over

390

million

users

in

over

100

countries

in

2001
.


•
May

be

640

million

users

of

Web

by

year

2003
.


•
About

2
.
5

billion

documents

on

Internet

(
550

billion

if

intranets/extranets

included)
.

7

Intranet and Extranet

•
Intranet
-

Web site or group of sites
belonging to an organization,
accessible only by members of that
organization.


•
Extranet

-

An

intranet

that

is

partially

accessible

to

authorized

outsiders
.


•
Whereas

intranet

resides

behind

firewall

and

is

accessible

only

to

people

who

are

members

of

same

organization,

extranet

provides

various

levels

of

accessibility

to

outsiders
.


8

eCommerce and eBusiness

•
eCommerce
-

Customers can place and pay
for orders via the business’s Web site.


•
eBusiness

-

Complete

integration

of

Internet

technology

into

economic

infrastructure

of

the

business
.


•
Business
-
to
-
business

transactions

may

reach

$
1
.
3

trillion

by

2003
.


•
eCommerce

may

account

for

$
3
.
2

trillion

in

worldwide

corporate

revenue

by

2003

and

could

represent

5
%

of

sales

in

the

global

economy
.

9

The Web


Hypermedia
-
based

system

that

provides

a

simple

‘point

and

click’

means

of

browsing

information

on

the

Internet

using

hyperlinks
.


•
Information

presented

on

Web

pages,

which

can

contain

text,

graphics,

pictures,

sound,

and

video
.


•
Can

also

contain

hyperlinks

to

other

Web

pages,

which

allow

users

to

navigate

in

a

non
-
sequential

way

through

information
.


•
Web documents written using HTML.

10

The

Web

•
Web

consists

of

network

of

computers

that

can

act

in

two

roles
:


–
as

servers
,

providing

information
;


–
as

clients

(browsers)
,

requesting

information
.


•
Protocol that governs exchange of
information between Web server and
browser is HTTP and locations within
documents identified as a URL.

•
Much of Web’s success is due to its
simplicity and platform
-
independence.

11

Basic Components of Web
Environment


12

HyperText Transfer Protocol
(HTTP)


Protocol

used

to

transfer

Web

pages

through

Internet
.


•
Based

on

request
-
response

paradigm
:

•
Connection

-

Client

establishes

connection

with

Web

server
.

Request

-


Client

sends

request

to

Web

server
.

Response

-

Web

server

sends

response

(HTML

document)

to

client
.

Close

-

Connection

closed

by

Web

server
.

13

HyperText

Transfer

Protocol

(HTTP)

•
HTTP/
1
.
0

is

stateless

protocol

-

each

connection

is

closed

once

server

provides

response
.


•
This

makes

it

difficult

to

support

concept

of

a

session

that

is

essential

to

basic

DBMS

transactions
.


14

HyperText Markup Language
(HTML)


Document

formatting

language

used

to

design

most

Web

pages
.


•
A

simple,

yet

powerful,

platform
-
independent

document

language
.


•
HTML is an application of Standardized
Generalized Markup Language (SGML),
a system for defining structured
document types and markup
languages to represent instances of
those document types.

15

HyperText Markup Language
(HTML)


16

HyperText Markup Language
(HTML)


17

Uniform Resource Locators
(URLs)


String

of

alphanumeric

characters

that

represents

location

or

address

of

a

resource

on

Internet

and

how

that

resource

should

be

accessed
.


•
Defines

uniquely

where

documents

(resources)

can

be

found
.


•
Uniform

Resource

Identifiers

(URIs)

-

generic

set

of

all

Internet

resource

names/addresses
.


•
Uniform

Resource

Names

(URNs)

-

persistent,

location
-
independent

name
.

Relies

on

name

lookup

services
.

18

Uniform

Resource

Locators

(URLs)

•
URL

consists

of

three

basic

parts
:


–
protocol

used

for

the

connection,


–
host

name,


–
path

name

on

host

where

resource

stored
.


•
Can

optionally

specify
:

–
port

through

which

connection

to

host

should

be

made,

–
query

string
.



http
:
//www
.
w
3
.
org/Markup/MarkUp
.
html

19

Static and Dynamic Web Pages

•
HTML

document

stored

in

file

is

static

Web

page
.

•
Content

of

dynamic

Web

page

is

generated

each

time

it

is

accessed
.


•
Thus,

dynamic

Web

page

can
:

–
respond

to

user

input

from

browser
;


–
be

customized

by

and

for

each

user
.


•
Requires hypertext to be generated by
servers.

•
Need scripts that perform conversions
from different data formats into HTML ‘
on
-
the
-
fly’
.

20

Requirements for Web
-
DBMS
Integration

•
Ability to access valuable corporate data in
a secure manner.

•
Data
-

and vendor
-
independent connectivity
to allow freedom of choice in DBMS
selection.

•
Ability to interface to database independent
of any proprietary browser or Web server.

•
Connectivity solution that takes advantage
of all the features of an organization’s
DBMS.

21

Requirements for Web
-
DBMS
Integration

•
Open architecture to allow interoperability with
a variety of systems and technologies. For
example:

–
different Web servers;

–
Microsoft's (Distributed) Common Object
Model (DCOM/COM);

–
CORBA/IIOP (Internet Inter
-
ORB protocol);

–
Java/Remote Method Invocation (RMI).


•
Cost
-
effective solution that allows for
scalability, growth, and changes in strategic
directions, and helps reduce applications
development costs.

22

Requirements for Web
-
DBMS
Integration

•
Support for transactions that span
multiple HTTP requests.

•
Support for session
-

and application
-
based authentication.

•
Acceptable performance.

•
Minimal administration overhead.

•
Set of high
-
level productivity tools to
allow applications to be developed,
maintained, and deployed with relative
ease and speed.

23

Two
-
Tier Client
-
Server
Architecture


24

Three
-
Tier Client
-
Server
Architecture

•
Client

side

presented

two

problems

preventing

true

scalability
:

–
‘Fat’

client,

requiring

considerable

resources

on

client’s

computer

to

run

effectively
.

–
Significant

client

side

administration

overhead
.


•
By 1995, three layers proposed, each
potentially running on a different
platform.

25

Three
-
Tier Client
-
Server
Architecture

•
Advantages
:


–
‘Thin’

client,

requiring

less

expensive

hardware
.

–
Application

maintenance

centralized
.


–
Easier

to

modify

or

replace

one

tier

without

affecting

others
.


–
Separating

business

logic

from

database

functions

makes

it

easier

to

implement

load

balancing
.


–
Maps

quite

naturally

to

Web

environment
.

26

Three
-
Tier Client
-
Server
Architecture


27

Advantages of Web
-
DBMS
Approach

•
DBMS

advantages

•
Simplicity


•
Platform independence


•
Graphical User Interface


•
Standardization


•
Cross
-
platform support


•
Transparent network access


•
Scalable deployment


•
Innovation


28

Disadvantages of Web
-
DBMS
Approach

•
Reliability


•
Security


•
Cost


•
Scalability


•
Limited functionality of HTML


•
Statelessness


•
Bandwidth


•
Performance


•
Immaturity of development tools

29

Approaches to Integrating Web
and DBMSs

•
Scripting Languages.

•
Common Gateway Interface (CGI).

•
HTTP Cookies.

•
Extending the Web Server.

•
Java, JDBC, SQLJ, Servlets, and JSP.

•
Microsoft Web Solution Platform: ASP
and ADO.

•
Oracle Internet Platform.

30

Scripting Languages
(JavaScript and VBScript)

•
Scripting

languages

can

be

used

to

extend

browser

and

Web

server

with

database

functionality
.


•
As

script

code

is

embedded

in

HTML,

it

is

downloaded

every

time

page

is

accessed
.


•
Updating

browser

is

simply

a

matter

of

changing

Web

document

on

server
.


•
Some

popular

scripting

languages

are
:

JavaScript,

VBScript,

Perl,

and

PHP
.


•
They

are

interpreted

languages,

not

compiled,

making

it

easy

to

create

small

applications
.

31

Common Gateway Interface
(CGI)


Specification

for

transferring

information

between

a

Web

server

and

a

CGI

program
.


•
Server

only

intelligent

enough

to

send

documents

and

to

tell

browser

what

kind

of

document

it

is
.


•
But

server

also

knows

how

to

launch

other

programs
.


•
When

server

sees

that

URL

points

to

a

program

(script),

it

executes

script

and

sends

back

script’s

output

to

browser

as

if

it

were

a

file
.

32

CGI
-

Environment


33

CGI
-

Passing Parameters on
Command Line


34

CGI

-

Advantages

•
CGI

is

the

de

facto

standard

for

interfacing

Web

servers

with

external

applications
.

•
Possibly

most

commonly

used

method

for

interfacing

Web

applications

to

data

sources
.


•
Advantages
:

–
simplicity,


–
language

independence,


–
Web

server

independence,


–
wide

acceptance
.


35

CGI

-

Disadvantages

•
Communication

between

client

and

database

server

must

always

go

through

Web

server
.

•
Lack

of

efficiency

and

transaction

support,

and

difficulty

validating

user

input

inherited

from

statelessness

of

HTTP

protocol
.


•
HTTP

never

intended

for

long

exchanges

or

interactivity
.


•
Server

has

to

generate

a

new

process

or

thread

for

each

CGI

script
.


•
Security.

36

HTTP Cookies

•
Cookies

can

make

CGI

scripts

more

interactive
.


•
Cookies

are

small

text

files

stored

on

Web

client
.


•
CGI

script

creates

cookie

and

has

Web

server

send

it

to

client’s

browser

to

store

on

hard

disk
.


•
Later,

when

client

revisits

Web

site

and

uses

a

CGI

script

that

requests

this

cookie,

client’s

browser

sends

information

stored

in

the

cookie
.


•
Cookies

can

be

used

to

store

registration

information

or

preferences

(e
.
g
.

for

virtual

shopping

cart)
.

•
However,

not

all

browsers

support

cookies
.


37

Server
-
Side JavaScript for
Database Access


38

Java

•
Proprietary

language

developed

by

Sun
.


•
Originally

intended

to

support

environment

of

networked

machines

and

embedded

systems
.

•
Now,

Java

is

rapidly

becoming

de

facto

language

for

Web

computing
.


•
Interesting

because

of

its

potential

for

building

Web

applications

(
applets)

and

server

applications

(
servlets
)
.


39

Java


‘A

simple,

object
-
oriented,

distributed,

interpreted,

robust,

secure,

architecture

neutral,

portable,

high
-
performance,

multi
-
threaded

and

dynamic

language’
.



•
Has

a

machine
-
independent

target

architecture,

the

Java

Virtual

Machine

(JVM)
.


•
Since

almost

every

Web

browser

vendor

has

already

licensed

Java

and

implemented

an

embedded

JVM,

Java

applications

can

currently

be

deployed

on

most

end
-
user

platforms
.

40

import java.sql.*;

import java.io.*;

import java.util.*;

public class Total1 {


public static void main (String[] arg)


{


try {


Class.forName ("oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver");


}


catch (Exception e) {


System.out.println("Could not load driver");


}



41

// Connect to the database


try {


Connection
conn=DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:oracle:thin:@orion.t
owson.edu:1521:cosc", “user_name",“password");




Statement stmt = conn.createStatement ();


ResultSet rset=null;


try {


rset= stmt.executeQuery("SELECT * from department");


ResultSetMetaData rsmd=rset.getMetaData();


while (rset.next())


{ System.out.println(" " + rset.getString(1) + " " +
rset.getString(2) +


" " + rset.getString(3) +" ");


}


}



42

catch (SQLException e){


System.out.println("writetolog:
error in SQL "+e+"<br>");


}


}




catch (SQLException e) {


System.out.println("Something
wrong " + e.toString());



}

}

}

43

Java


44

Java

2

Platform

•
In

mid
-
1999
,

Sun

announced

it

would

pursue

a

distinct

and

integrated

Java

enterprise

platform
:

–
J
2
ME
:

aimed

at

embedded

and

consumer
-
electronics

platforms
.

–
J
2
SE
:

aimed

at

typical

desktop

and

workstation

environments
.

Essentially

equivalent

to

JDK

1
.
2
.

–
J
2
EE
:

aimed

at

robust,

scalable,

multiuser,

and

secure

enterprise

applications
.


•
J
2
EE

was

designed

to

simplify

complex

problems

with

development,

deployment,

and

management

of

multitier

enterprise

applications
.


45

Java

2

Platform

•
Cornerstone

of

J
2
EE

is

Enterprise

JavaBeans

(EJB),

a

standard

for

building

server
-
side

components

in

Java
.

•
Two

types

of

EJB

components
:

–
EJB

Session

Beans
,

components

implementing

business

logic,

business

rules,

and

workflow
.


–
EJB

Entity

Beans
,

components

encapsulating

some

data

contained

by

the

enterprise
.

Entity

Beans

are

persistent
.

•
From

database

perspective,

interested

in

two

J
2
EE

components
:

JDBC

and

JSP
.

46

Java

2

Platform


47

JDBC

•
Modeled

after

ODBC,

JDBC

API

supports

basic

SQL

functionality
.


•
With

JDBC,

Java

can

be

used

as

host

language

for

writing

database

applications
.


•
On

top

of

JDBC,

higher
-
level

APIs

can

be

built
.


•
Currently,

two

types

of

higher
-
level

APIs
:


–
An

embedded

SQL

for

Java

(e
.
g
.

SQLJ)
.


–
A

direct

mapping

of

relational

database

tables

to

Java

classes

(e
.
g
.

Java

Blend

from

Sun)
.


48

JDBC

-

Advantages/Disadvantages

•
Advantage

of

using

ODBC

drivers

is

that

they

are

a

de

facto

standard

for

PC

database

access,

and

are

available

for

many

DBMSs,

for

very

low

price
.


•
Disadvantages

with

this

approach
:

–
Non
-
pure

JDBC

driver

will

not

necessarily

work

with

a

Web

browser
.

–
Currently

downloaded

applet

can

connect

only

to

database

located

on

host

machine
.

–
Deployment

costs

increase
.

49

Java Servlets

•
Servlets
are programs that run on
Java
-
enabled Web server and build
Web pages, analogous to CGI.

•
Have a number of advantages over
CGI:

–
improved performance;

–
portability;

–
extensibility;

–
simpler session management;

–
improved security and reliability.

50

Java Server Pages (JSP)

•
JSP is
a Java
-
based server
-
side scripting
language that allows static HTML to be
mixed with dynamically
-
generated HTML.

•
Behind scenes, JSP is compiled into Java
servlet and processed by a Java
-
enabled
Web server (JSP works with most Web
servers).

•
Since servlet is compiled, performance is
improved.


51

Microsoft Web Solution
Platform

•
Microsoft Web Solution Platform, a
precursor to .NET, has been created
for building and deploying
interoperable Web solutions.

•
Contains various tools, services, and
technologies, such as:

–
Windows 2000,

–
Exchange Server,

–
Visual Studio,

–
HTML/XML,

–
scripting languages,

–
components (Java, ActiveX).

52

Object Linking and Embedding
for DataBases (OLE DB)

•
Microsoft

has

defined

set

of

data

objects,

collectively

known

as

OLE

DB
.

•
Allows

OLE
-
oriented

applications

to

share

and

manipulate

sets

of

data

as

objects
.


•
OLE

DB

is

an

object
-
oriented

specification

based

on

C++

API
.


•
Components

can

be

treated

as

data

consumers

and

data

providers
.

Consumers

take

data

from

OLE

DB

interfaces

and

providers

expose

OLE

DB

interfaces
.


53

OLE DB Architecture


54

Active Server Pages (ASP)

•
ASP

is

programming

model

that

allows

dynamic,

interactive

Web

pages

to

be

created

on

server
.


•
ASP

provides

flexibility

of

CGI,

without

performance

overhead

discussed

previously
.


•
ASP

runs

in
-
process

with

the

server,

and

is

optimized

to

handle

large

volume

of

users
.


•
When

an

‘
.
asp’

file

is

requested,

Web

server

calls

ASP,

which

reads

requested

file,

executes

any

commands,

and

sends

generated

HTML

page

back

to

browser
.


•
http
:
//triton
.
towson
.
edu/~cscfr/htmlPage/


55

Active Server Pages (ASP)


56

Comparison of ASP and JSP

•
Both designed to enable developers to
separate page design from
programming logic through use of
callable components.

•
Differences
:

–
JSP

is

essentially

platform

and

server

independent

whereas

ASP

primarily

restricted

to

MS

Windows
-
based

platforms
.

–
JSP

perhaps

more

extensible

as

JSP

developers

can

extend

the

JSP

tags

available
.

–
JSP

components

are

reusable

across

platforms
.

–
JSP

benefits

from

in
-
built

Java

security

model
.

57

Oracle Internet Platform

•
Comprises Oracle Internet
Application Server (
i
AS) and Oracle
DBMS.

•
It is
n
-
tier architecture based on
industry standards such as:

–
HTTP and HTML/XML for Web enablement.

–
OMG’s CORBA technology.

–
IIOP for object interoperability and RMI.

–
Java, EJB, JDBC, and SQLJ for database
connectivity, Java servlets, and JSP.

58

Oracle Internet Platform