Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
A SYSTEM FOR TEACHING
MIS AND MBA STUDENTS
TO DEPLOY A SCALABLE DATABASE
-
DRIVEN WEB ARCHITECTURE FOR
B2C E
-
COMMERCE
Alexander Y. Yap, Ph.D.
Elon University, North Carolina
Claudia Loebbecke, Ph.D.
University of Cologne, Germany
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Background
IS Environment: Five Years Teaching in two Business School
Environments (MIS & MBA students)
A variety of B2C E
-
commerce systems solutions are available for
different business needs …
But deciding on a particular systems solution can be a
challenging process
Putting things in perspective for students
•
Choosing the appropriate IS strategy for Business Objectives
•
Looking at Business Processes behind E
-
commerce systems
•
Assessing how different solutions and systems address short
term vs. long term strategies
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Objective
Show students different solution paths
We came up with four generic solutions models
Show different architecture scalability
Demonstrate the role of database in e
-
commerce
Show how a web application server (middleware) shuttles
data between the database and browser
Discuss the importance of web interface and its usability
(front
-
end design)
Develop and Deploy an E
-
commerce application (one
project for each student)
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Business Process Optimization,
Outsourcing, & Content Development
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Stand Alone Model
(Two
-
tier Architecture)
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
E
-
Commerce
Integrated with E
-
Business Systems
(Model 4
–
Three
-
tier & Multi
-
tier Architecture)
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Web Architectures
Client
Computer
(Web Browser)
Web Server
+
Stand Alone
Database
(Access)
Client
Computer
(Web Browser)
Web Server
Database
Server
(Oracle,
SQL Server)
Client
Computer
(Web Browser)
Web Server
Database Server
Email Server
File Server
Video Server
Two
-
tier Architecture
Three
-
tier Architecture
Multi
-
tier Architecture
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
E
-
Commerce: A Two Component
Course (Teaching the Business &
Technology Components)
Students taking MIS (Graduate Level)
–
needed 2 semesters to cover
the business component (1) and the technology component (1)
•
Three
-
tier architecture
•
Oracle and SQL programming
•
Customize the Application with a lot of hand coding
•
Setting up the Application Server & Web/HTTP Server
MBA students learning E
-
commerce were limited to a one semester.
Business component (half a semester) and technology component
(half a semester)
•
Two
-
tier architecture
•
MS Access
•
Use Rapid Application Development Methods for Coding
(Wizards, Drag and Drop coding, reuse of existing
components
–
shopping cart)
•
No Server set up required
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Student Feedback
MBA students with no database background were more
suited to learning Model 3 (just to see how technology
manages the electronic process)
MIS students preferred Model 4, because they know that
high
-
end relational database management systems (like
Oracle) work with other enterprise applications
MBA students were able to see how different systems
could be integrated with e
-
commerce systems, enabling
them to make technology acquisition decisions (Model 4)
MIS students were able to set
-
up customized e
-
commerce applications with their own coding logic, their
choice of database, and operating system (Linux)
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Application
Development Environment
FLASH
Animation
(Nested in html codes)
HOMESITE
Generates Cold Fusion
Enabled
Web pages (*.cfm)
COLD FUSION
APPLICATION
SERVER
Processes Web pages
with
CF tags
Web
Page
HTML
Tags
+
Cold
Fusion
Tags
WEB/HTTP SERVER
(Microsoft IIS)
Process HTML tags
Cold Fusion Tags with
SQL scripts are
passed on to
database
DATABASE
ORACLE or
MS ACCESS
(interprets SQL scripts)
Client Software
(Home Installed)
Middleware
(University E
-
commerce Server)
Database
(University Server)
Parsing Codes
Embedded in Tags
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
TECHNOLOGIES USED
SOFTWARE TOOLS
•
Macromedia Homesite+ & Dreamweaver (editors
for coding)
•
Cold Fusion Server (Application Server
-
middleware)
•
MS Access Database or Oracle (relational
database; back
-
end)
•
Macromedia Flash MX (animation)
•
Others (Fireworks, Photoshop, Graphic editors)
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Application Features
When we decided to use CF
(2000
-
2001)
Features
Cold Fusion (CF)
Active
Server
Pages
(ASP)
Multi
-
Platform
(Interoperability)
Windows,
HP
Unix,
Solaris,
Linux
Windows
only
Native
RDBMS
Drivers
(i
.
e
.
Oracle
drivers)
Yes
No
Simplified
One
Tag
XML
Parser
Yes
No
Clustering
and
Software
Load
Balancing
Yes
No
Security
Sandboxes
Yes
No
CORBA
/
COM
/
JAVA
Support
Native
support
for
all
three
Only
COM
is
native
to
ASP
Rapid
Deployment
(Rapid
Application
Development)
Drag
and
Drop
coding,
custom
tags,
automated
scripting
with
SQL
Builder,
Template
Wizards
No
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
RDBMS/Database Connectivity
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Cold Fusion Studio
(now Macromedia
Homesite +)
–
RAD
Features
You can link the tables:
‘click and drag’ the
primary key to the foreign
key
Then, double click on the
fields and they will
appear automatically
SQL Script appears
automatically
You can sort the order
by a chosen field (e.g.
date)
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
RAD Tools:
Drag and Drop Query Codes
(Cold Fusion Studio
-
> Homesite Plus)
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
RAP
-
Using Wizards to create
Form and Action Templates
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Select Table and Fields
that you want to include in form
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Form & Action Template Created
(product_entryform.cfm, product_entryaction.cfm)
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Form Template
Design & Code
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Action Template
(CFINSERT)
Validation/Confirmation that data has been inputted into the database
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
First Step: Create Database
Data
to be Provided
Data
Content
Data
to be Collected
Data Content
(Samples)
Product Categories
(Catalog)
Product Categories (i.e.
cars, computers)
Client Information
(upon ordering)
Name, Address, E
-
Mail,
Phone
Products
(Catalog)
Product Name, Product
Description (short &
long), Price, Images
(small & large)
Payment Information
(upon ordering)
Credit Card Number,
Billing Address
Product Inventory
(Catalog)
Stock Available (quantity),
Back Orders, Date of
Delivery
Order Information
(upon ordering)
Products Ordered,
Quantity, Order
Date
Order Invoice
(after Ordering)
Order No., Item No., Items
Ordered, Total
Customer Services
(after ordering)
Complaints and
Comments, Item
and Order Tracking
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Second Step:
Show students how their data is
connected to the Server
“Creating the
‘data source’
using student’s name”
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Data source
MSAccess
–
set
up the path of
the database file
in the server
Oracle
–
create
a schema name
for each student
(using Oracle’s
userid and
password)
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Third Step:
Creating the E
-
commerce Application:
Separating Content and Web Design
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
The
Shopping Cart
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Handling Session Variables
(Passing Data from Catalog to
Shopping Cart to Database)
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Passing Data Variables
(Using different web templates)
Online
Product
Catalog
Shopping
Cart
Capture
Order Info
In Database
Product
Table
Info
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Form Variables
Inserted into the Customer Table
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Fourth Step:
Flash Animation
SPLASH PAGE
Create layers
Separate animated
objects for each layer
Different animation
effects
Timeline of the
animated objects
NAVIGATION BUTTONS
(optional)
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Embedding Sound
Drag the sound clip to the object
If you successfully dragged the sound, it will
appear on the frame
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Conclusion
Students taking MIS at the Graduate level, with background in
SQL and Oracle, handled the three
-
tier architecture system very
well.
They all wanted to learn full scalability of the architecture (Model
4).
MIS students mostly combined hand
-
coding and RAD functions
MBA students learning E
-
commerce for the first time could handle
the two
-
tier architecture without a problem.
But they need to use RAD methods with minimal coding (drag &
drop, wizards, application server handled by someone else)
MBA students felt they could make technology
-
related decisions
better knowing the capabilities of web technologies to improve
business process.
Multi
-
tier architecture was only feasible if taught across several
courses (logistics limitations; cannot be compressed into 1 or 2
semesters)
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
CFGraph
Create query
You can use
SUM to add
Use an alias
–
e.g “as totalsum”
for the sum of a
variable
Define the graph
as shown
Sum (Quantity x
Price)
Pie Chart
Of
Quantity Sold
Horizontal bar
Chart of
Sales Amount
Yap, Elon University, N. Carolina
Dynamic Charts based on the
Database (Sales Table)
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