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`Here we show you STORMServ's SITEServ package, in use by a large distribution company'
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PSA Parts is a large distributor of Computer Batteries, Printer Spares, Computer Accessories and Specialist Electronic Components. They have over 10,000 customers and suppliers as well as over 30,000 products on their database, which they sell in small and large quantities, 'Business To Business' and 'Business To Customer'.
Sales are made all over the world and delivery costs vary depending on location, shipment weight and delivery service for some countries. Cost, tax, postage and availability are shown on the site.
The company holds various additional information about the individual products, which is also shown on the site to help customers make their selection. Customers frequently do not know the precise part they need - so to avoid loosing sales it is easy to ask PSA for advice on a part through an 'Ask-Our-Advice' form.
In addition to the On-Line Shop, it is also possible to search through their database, as well as listing the products in catagories and sub-catagories.
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PSA has an Acorn database in place, so we set up a SyBase database server to run the Web Site and mirroring software to syncronise them. In other cases it is possible to use a company's existing database over the Internet or a leased-line connection, or syncronise with the site database periodically. If there is no existing corporate server we can set up a database from scratch.
An Apache Web Server with the SITEServ Servlet Toolkit was set up and the domain name for PSA pointed at the new site. PSA's existing site was kept in place while the new site was built, with the Servlet Toolkit and our Technical Support available during construction.
The database server and Web Server are behind a FireWall providing protection against malicious attacks. As well as this, a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) server is provided for customers to enter their personal details - which are then encrypted before being stored in the database.
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| We will look at two parts of the site, powered by the 'Page Filler' and 'QueryGUI' Servlets. |
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 Product Information Pages - powered by Page Filler |
Like most of the Servlets in the package, Page Filler works by reading HTML 'template' files containing small sections of script where values or listings are required. The values to be included in the pages tend to be of two types: values returned by an SQL query on the database; values held in the user's session information.
Values are pulled from the database using SQL queries, defined in a seperate file. This SQL file can use parameters passed to the servlet with the call to display the page - such as a part number. The results from the query are then inserted into the HTML page where required, before it is sent to the user.
The values can also be used by JavaScript embedded in the page. A 'list' function defined in the Script allows arrays of results to be inserted into the page - such as a drop down HTML Select list, or a JavaScript array definition.
Values, such as those held in the user's session information like login_status or customer_name, can not only be inserted into the page - for display or use by JavaScript. They can also be used by the Script to make decisions - such as what content to display, or what links to allow.
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| Product Sub-Category Listings - powered by QueryGUI |
QueryGUI is designed to rapidly produce designer defined, paginated reports and listings from SQL queries on the database. Examples could be product sub-category listings, product searches or listing customer orders.
To make this process fast and intuative, QueryGUI operates through an HTML User Interface. The Servlet guides the designer through specifying the SQL query, defining parameters, selecting display properties (pagination etc), defining groups and totals, and specifying the formatting to use. This last allows the designer to specify HTML formatting, as well as custom formats such as Price, Date or Invoice Number.
QueryGUI also allows the blocks of results to be grouped for display by 'monitoring' certain columns. This is used on the PSA site to order product sub-category listings by type, where required.
Once created, these formatted queries are automatically run (without access to the user interface) as pages on the Web Site.
Finally, QueryGUI also allows Script to be used to include additional values in the results page - just as Page Filler does.
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If you wish to, you can visit PSA's Web Site to see the SITEServ Servlet Toolkit in action. Their website is www.psaparts.co.uk
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