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Choosing a Dynamic Web Publishing Environment

The problem for the UO Library. Several projects pending that would build dynamic web sitesNo consistency in existing software toolsNeed to provide infrastructure

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Choosing a Dynamic Web Publishing Environment

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    1. Choosing a Dynamic Web Publishing Environment JQ Johnson University of Oregon Library Presentation for CIT 382, 13 Feb 2001

    2. The problem for the UO Library Several projects pending that would build dynamic web sites No consistency in existing software tools Need to provide infrastructure & training to facilitate new technology

    3. Architecture

    4. Server-side middleware technologies

    5. Library environment Library has moderately large static website (about 25,000 pages) Decentralized maintenance by non-programmers (librarians). ~150 FTE total. Small IT support staff. ~5 FTE. Some projects pushing limits of static website

    6. Examples of projects Existing projects New Media Center DB-driven websites Aviation safety research Language lesson planner Blackboard system Potential projects Database of licensed online resources Visual image archives Classroom inventory Etc.

    7. Existing Library technology Web servers Apache/Linux (libweb) for general use IIS/Windows2000 (nmc) for New Media Center Turnkey systems: Janus OPAC Blackboard Various experimental servers Servers are centrally managed by systems department

    8. Web publishing/html editing Authoring is widely decentralized throughout Library Workshops teach basic techniques Variety of tools Text editors (Notepad, vi, etc.) Claris Home Page Dreamweaver emerging as preferred high-end tool Some use of other tools (HomeSite, Golive, etc.)

    9. Databases Desktop databases Excel, Access used for a variety of tasks Some other desktop databases, e.g. Filemaker Pro Server databases Blackboard uses MySQL Some use of MS SQL Server Some applications talk to Banner (Oracle) Database expertise in library fairly limited

    10. Programming Very few staff have any programming background/expertise A few in-house applications Perl (mostly for web page form processing) C, C++

    11. Options for dynamic web sites Outsource Development Delivery Centralize development in Systems Dept. Provide support; decentralize development Requires choice of infrastructure Database Middleware Tools Training

    12. Database options MS SQL Server Runs on Windows 2000; Costs $$ MySQL Runs mostly on Linux; Free Oracle Runs on anything; Costs $$$$ Ad hoc databases (e.g. flat files) Desktop databases (e.g. Access)

    13. Web server options Apache Runs mostly on Linux; free Microsoft IIS Runs mostly on Windows 2000

    14. Middleware options Programming environments Perl (perhaps with mod_perl) Scripting languages ASP+VBScript (runs mostly on IIS/ Windows) PHP (mostly on Apache/ Linux) ColdFusion (mostly on IIS/Windows) Java Server Pages (e.g. TomCat for Apache)

    15. Example: querying a database in ASP and ColdFusion <% Set OBJdbConnection = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") OBJdbConnection.Open "nba_membership" SQLQuery = “SELECT id, business FROM directory" Set rsCustomers = OBJdbConnection.Execute(SQLQuery) Do Until rsCustomers.EOF Response.Write (rsCustomers("ID") & " " & rsCustomers("Business")) & “<br>” rsCustomers.MoveNext Loop %> <cfquery name="rsCustomers" datasource="nba_membership"> SELECT id, business FROM directory </cfquery> <cfoutput query="rsCustomers">#id# #business#<br></cfoutput>

    16. Example: querying a database in PHP <?php $conn = mssql_connect(“libsqlserver.uoregon.edu", "user", "secretpwd"); mssql_select_db("nba_membership"); $SQLquery = "SELECT id, business FROM directory"; $rsCustomers = mssql_query($SQLquery); $number_rows = mssql_num_rows($rsCustomers) ; for ($row = 0 ; $row <= $number_rows - 1 ; $row++) { print mssql_result($rsCustomers, $row, 1) . mssql_result($rsCustomers, $row, 2) . "<br>“; } mssql_close($conn); ?>

    17. Page editing options MS Visual Interdev (works best with ASP) Dreamweaver Ultradev (works well with ASP and ColdFusion) ColdFusion Studio (works only with ColdFusion) Dreamweaver (provides minimal help with programming) Text editor or tag editor (Notepad, HomeSite)

    18. Decision making criteria Options for different components interact Options change rapidly with technology Major issues for library include Functionality/flexibility Price Manageability/integration into existing environment Consistency with campus/industry direction Ease of use by non-programmers

    19. Sample Option 1 Install PHP (v3) and MySQL on Linux server Use Dreamweaver or text editor for PHP development Provide training in SQL, general programming, PHP Variants: Use PHP v4 Hire student labor for most programming

    20. Option 1, sample advantages/disadvantages free PHP also good for non-DB dynamic web pages (e.g. manipulating XML or managing files) PHP is rapidly evolving (either + or -, depending on perspective), very popular in Open Source community would allow us to leverage existing investment in libweb/Linux possibly more consistent with the direction other research libraries are taking MySQL high performance for simple queries, but lacks many features of a high-end SQL implementation no good visual development environment for PHP scripts exists yet. Programmers would have to use Dreamweaver (not Ultradev) PHP requires some knowledge of programming Requires some knowledge of SQL

    21. Sample Option 2 Provide ColdFusion, IIS and SQL Server on existing Windows 2000 server Use Dreamweaver Ultradev for CFM development Provide SQL training. Use vendor’s materials for ColdFusion, Dreamweaver Ultradev Variants: Install ColdFusion on Linux, possibly talking to MySQL Use Allaire ColdFusion Studio or other tools instead of Dreamweaver Ultradev

    22. Option 2, sample advantages/disadvantages nice environment for developers ColdFusion is mature, stable product (also a disadvantage) commercial products, so there training opportunities, and vendor support available Allaire (owner of ColdFusion) and Macromedia have announced merger, so synergies likely in future SQL Server is a robust, high-performance database fairly expensive does not leverage staff familiarity with Linux as web server would not allow us to import growing amount of free code written for Linux/PHP. apparently Allaire and Macromedia are merging because Allaire hasn't been doing well financially. Future?

    23. Decision-making methodology Collect data on what we currently do Evaluate options Read trade press Experiment with trial implementations Build consensus among stakeholders Recommend an option for implementation this term

    24. Questions for discussion What issues should we be considering? What additional information is needed? What should we do next?

    25. References Allaire Corp. (ColdFusion): http://www.allaire.com Macromedia (Dreamweaver): http://www.macromedia.com PHP: http://www.php.net MySQL: http://www.mysql.com PHP vs ColdFusion (a typical article on the web): http://php.weblogs.com/php_vs_cold_fusion Server Side scripting shootout: http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/99/46/index1a.html?tw=programming Four Scripting Languages speed development http://www.zdnet.com/eweek/stories/general/0,11011,2646052,00.html

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