yap, elon university, n. carolina a system for teaching mis and mba students to deploy a scalable...

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


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


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)


Business Process Optimization, Outsourcing, & Content Development


Stand Alone Model (Two-tier Architecture)


E-Commerce Integrated with E-Business Systems(Model 4 – Three-tier & Multi-tier Architecture)


Web Architectures

ClientComputer

(Web Browser)

Web Server+

Stand AloneDatabase (Access)

ClientComputer

(Web Browser)

Web Server

DatabaseServer

(Oracle, SQL Server)

ClientComputer

(Web Browser)

Web Server

Database Server

Email Server

File Server

Video Server

Two-tier Architecture Three-tier Architecture Multi-tier Architecture


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


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)


ApplicationDevelopment Environment

FLASH

Animation(Nested in html codes)

HOMESITEGenerates Cold Fusion EnabledWeb pages (*.cfm)

COLD FUSIONAPPLICATIONSERVERProcesses Web pages withCF tags

WebPage

HTMLTags

+

ColdFusionTags

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 CodesEmbedded in Tags


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)


Application FeaturesWhen 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


RDBMS/Database Connectivity


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)


RAD Tools:Drag and Drop Query Codes(Cold Fusion Studio -> Homesite Plus)


RAP - Using Wizards to createForm and Action Templates


Select Table and Fieldsthat you want to include in form


Form & Action Template Created(product_entryform.cfm, product_entryaction.cfm)


Form TemplateDesign & Code


Action Template(CFINSERT)

Validation/Confirmation that data has been inputted into the database


First Step: Create Database

Datato be Provided

DataContent

Datato 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


Second Step: Show students how their data is connected to the Server “Creating the ‘data source’ using student’s name”


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)


Third Step:Creating the E-commerce Application:Separating Content and Web Design


TheShopping Cart


Handling Session Variables(Passing Data from Catalog to Shopping Cart to Database)


Passing Data Variables(Using different web templates)

OnlineProductCatalog

ShoppingCart

CaptureOrder Info

In Database

ProductTableInfo


Form Variables Inserted into the Customer Table


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)


Embedding Sound

Drag the sound clip to the object If you successfully dragged the sound, it will

appear on the frame


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)


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 ChartOf Quantity Sold

Horizontal barChart ofSales Amount


Dynamic Charts based on the Database (Sales Table)

yap, elon university, n. carolina a system for teaching mis and mba students to deploy a scalable...

Documents

elon university

carolina ecommerce

ecommerce application

different systems

carolina background

university of cologne

ebusiness systems model

carolina objective