Chapter 16 - Internet, Intranet, and Multimedia Database Processing

Network Environments
1. The Internet
  - TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol)
  - Internet Services: e-mail, telnet, ftp, newsgroups, world-wide Web
  - World Wide Web
    - HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)
    - HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
    - URL (Universal Resource Locator)
    - MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Code)
    - WWW applications are request-oriented
    - WWW applications are stateless (server receives a request, processes it, and then forgets about the client
2. Intranets - local area network that uses TCP/IP, HTTP, etc. within a company
  1. firewall - security gateway
Network Database Applications - database application in which the clients use an HTML-based browser and the server includes both an Internet server and database files (usually a DBMS)
1. STATIC REPORT PUBLISHING - Examples
2. DB QUERY PUBLISHING - Guestbook
3. APPLICATION PUBLISHING
4. Limitations
  - slow transmission rates
  - lack of security
  - stateless nature of web requires that the client maintain session status (cookies)
Network Database Alternatives
1. CGI and PERL
2. JavaScript and VBScript
3. Java
4. ActiveX
Access 97 Support for Internet Applications
1. Hyperlink Processing - Hyperlink data type
2. Publishing Tables, Forms, and Reports as HTML Documents
3. Publishing Forms as ActiveX Server Pages
Multimedia Database Applications
1. A Slide Show Multimedia Application - use data type blob and OLE [see design in chapter 17]
2. A Multimedia Application with Recursive Pages [hot spots on images = image maps]
The Future for Network Database Applications
- Network Security Needs to be Improved - SSL, encryption
- Network database Applications are difficult to develop and maintain
- New Products and Technologies need to be developed to increase the transmission speed on the Internet - DSL
- Skills required to develop database applications on the network will be in high demand