Software Components and Frameworks

• Software Components
• Frameworks
• Large-grain Components
  • Databases

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Small-grain software components assembled into the application includes "page", "user" and "link." These components are general for any web based application. Components such as "template" and "annotation" are specific to collaborative authoring applications. All components fit into the frameworks of the application as shown in the figure above.

• Page
  This component holds information of tags and contents as well as metadata of each page, such as author, date of creation, traffic etc. "Page" component is the principal component of any web based application. Examples of such application include web authoring tools and intranet applications.
• Link
  "Link" component is also useful in any web based application. It keeps track of links between pages and organizes the pages of the site. This component manages the relationships of the pages under one site while "page" component deals with pages themselves not their relationships. Since this component is strongly related to "page" component, its application area is same as that of "page" component.
• User
  This component represents a user of web pages. The user can be an author of the page or a visitor of the page. It not only identifies a user, but also keeps information about the user's permission to access particular resources and control the access to the pages. "User" component can be utilized in any web based application. It is especially useful in intranet applications which need to manage a large number of users under one application.
• Template
  This component is specific to collaborative feature of the application. It represents different types of templates and holds information about creator, date of creation, and usage of each template. It is possible to use "template" component in other collaborative authoring applications which needs effective management of templates accessed by multiple users.
• Annotation
  As the "template" component, this component is specific to collaborative operations. It holds content of annotations as well as reference information of each annotation. This component can be used in collaborative authoring applications or other applications which support commenting function.
  

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Modularized architecture of the application is a set of frameworks designed to support the application's various features. The following modules constitute the main framework of the GWD.

• Site Management Module [see specific features]
• Administrative Module [see specific features]
• Collaboration Module [see specific features]

The components introduced in the previous section fit into these frameworks as shown in the figure above. Each framework supports specific features of the application. (click the links above to learn more about these features.)

It is also possible to introduce a customized framework into the existing application. GWD's flexible modular architecture enables easy expansion and customization of the application.

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For a company developing Global Web Developer as its primary product, it makes sense to focus on the core competencies required for the product. Because providing web development tools is the fundamental purpose of GWD, some required application components such as a DBMS are outside the logical scope of the development project. Here listed are the large-grain available components for which it make good business sense to incorporate into GWD:

• DBMS
  A substantial number of GWD's special features require the use of a robust DBMS. To deliver the functionality and performance attributes necessary to make GWD viable, a proven DBMS suited for GWD's requirements must be selected and incorporated into the application. Inclusion of a standard, scalable DBMS should adhere to the usual practices consistent with this common process.

  For a list of databases required for the application and information managed by these databases, please refer to the following links:

  List of Databases
  Database References by Feature

• Web Server
  An obviously key component for GWD is a web server. Not only is this component required to eventually serve the pages and content produced using GWD, but it must also be included to support the standard web browser interface for using GWD itself. Because the web server market is not as mature as the DBMS market, more care should be taken when integrating the web server component to protect against reliance upon a specific web server product.

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• Browser Interface
  GWD employs conventional web browsers as its interfaces. Users can pick up any browser they perfer.
  
  
• E-mail Interface
  E-mail is utilized in various features of GWD for notification purpose. (e.g. Traffic-Based Link Suggestion, Content-Based Link Suggestion, User E-mail Alert) As in the case of browsers, any e-mail application can be used with GWD.

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