Server-Side Scripting Languages as Tools for Collecting and Organizing Data _计算机网络论文.docVIP

Server-Side Scripting Languages as Tools for Collecting and Organizing Data _计算机网络论文 Server-Side Scripting Languages as Tools for Collecting and Organizing Data _计算机网络论文 Abstract Server-side scripting languages can provide educational institutions with the ability to create web-based applications, which efficiently collect data in an well-organized manner. This presentation covers Cold Fusion Markup Language (CFML) and Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), two popular scripting languages, which interact with databases. These languages provide an efficient and flexible means of building on-line assessment tools, questionnaires, and surveys. The data collected is automatically inserted into databases, and may also be sent as email. Several projects will be discussed, ranging from a simple web-based form, which sends data to a database, to a complex system, which not only collects data, but also allows authorized users to view the data online and to add comments which will be archived. Introduction The development of Internet and WWW presents us with a unique opportunity for on-line distance teaching and learning. This field has developed very rapidly in the past few years because of the many practical uses of the web. Among these practical uses is the ability of web-based fill-in forms to efficiently gather data that can then be inserted into databases for later retrieval. Server-side scripting languages are one of the most effective ways to collect data on-line. They can also be used to query a database to retrieve data and dynamically create web pages. This paper will provide some background into the development of these languages, describe how they function, and present some case studies showing real life uses of this technology at a large American university. First we need to examine some of the basic features of the web to see how these scripting languages developed. A major feature of the WWW is the potential for developers to create links between text and other media,