A Web-Oracle Mail Archive --- A Case Study of Integration of 
		Database Server and Web Technology

			Gang Cheng and Geoffrey Fox

	Northeast Parallel Architectures Center at Syracuse University

			abstract

	In this paper, we first review techniques used in integrating
relational database management system (RDBMS) into World Wide Web (WWW).
After examing current approaches used to combine an Oracle database 
server in a web server, we further describe a prototype system of using a 
web-oracle interface tool to build a mail database archive under web interface. 
System integration issues, database design and implementation 
details are discussed in building this prototype system.


1. Introduction

For a long time, computer networking and database have been two quite separate
fields, each developed their own technology with quite different driven force, 
although both borrow a few techniques from each other.  
Nevertheness, they both are core enabling technologies in an advanced information
system, in which a networking subsystem focuses on information access/dissemination, 
and a database management system on information management/retrival. 

With the growing deployment of high-speed networks and innovative
development of web-based networking applications and software,  it becomes
a natural approach to build a global information system based on evolving NII 
(National Information Infrastructure) and well-established RDBM 
(Relational Database Management System) technologies
Such an information system will require the integration of web-based 
networking navigation software and database systems. 

Web-based networking software can be an ideal candidate of database access 
interface to a database server,  having the folowing unique advantages over 
the traditional database interface clients:

1. a universal GUI-based interface for database access from hetergeneous 
platforms of PC and workstaions, based on the single networking protocol 
(i.e., HTTP) for client-server transport

2. a transparent networking client interface for remote and distributed 
database server access to allow the maximum information sharing and dissemination

3. an integrated multimedia information system combining other 
hypertext data representation

On the other hand, a backend database server can significant enhance an 
ordinary Web server of HTML-based data reporsitory in the aspects of:

1. an advanced data management model (e.g., relational data model) for 
representation of not only the information content itself but that of the 
logical structure of information entities also.
2. an efficient, reliable and sophisticated text searching engine
3. a dynamic data processing engine for on-the-fly HTML programming and data retrival

Using an Oracle7 RDBMS database server in a case study, we build a 
prototype system of a mail database archive under the web interface 
to demonstrate the enhanced capabilities of an integrated information system. 

2. Motivations and snergy of Web-based Networking and Database Technologies in 
information access, dissemination, management and retrival

 
key points in web technology
. current trends in networking applications and information dissemination
systems
. major components in www
. client-server model
. weak points in web technology

key points in rdbms technology
. major components
. weak points in database technology

3. Integration of RDBMS and Web server

4. A Mail Database archive using Oracle and web servers
we choose MH mailbox as our example because it is being popular used in the UNIX world 
and is well defined. . Database design --- the ER model
. WOW --- the web-oracle-web toolkit
. major functionality --- focus on time-added dimension
. implementation --- 

5. Discussion
Notice that mailbox is mostly text-based thus the multimedia capability
of the integrated web-db system is not revealed in this prototype example.



6. Conclusion