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Active Server Pages Active Server Pages (ASP) is a Microsoft technology, which provides real-time interaction between a client (browser), and the web server. It utilizes plain text files (.asp extension) for both the requesting file and the HTML return file. It is possible to add programming logic to the requests using either VBScript or JavaScript and to create server-side objects or add ActiveX controls. ASP will work only on web servers running Microsoft Windows Operating Systems. A document that contains embedded server-side scripting. ASP-compatible Web servers can execute these scripts. On the client side, an ASP is a standard HTML document that can be viewed on any platform using any Web browser.
Microsoft's ASP is a way to combine HTML, scripts written in JavaScript or VBScript, and ActiveX controls to dynamically serve HTML. When a browser requests an ASP page from a Microsoft Web server, the server interprets the ASP code and sends the resulting HTML to the requesting browser. (The browser receives only HTML, not ASP code.)
ActiveX A set of technologies that enables software components to interact with one another in a networked environment, regardless of the language in which the components were created. ActiveX is used primarily to develop interactive content for the World Wide Web, although it can be used in desktop applications and other programs. See also ActiveX controls.
ActiveX controls ActiveX controls are a Microsoft technology developed to run applications on Microsoft based client computers through an active web page interface. Like plug-ins, once loaded, ActiveX remains part of the browser.
ActiveX Controls are reusable software components that incorporate ActiveX technology. ActiveX controls can be embedded in Web pages to produce animation and other multimedia effects, interactive objects, and sophisticated applications. They can be written in a variety of programming languages, including C, C++, and Visual Basic.
Cascading Style Sheets Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language that controls the formatting of structured documents (e.g., HTML documents and XML applications) by attaching style (e.g., fonts, spacing, and position). By separating the presentation style of a document from the content of a document, CSS simplifies web authoring and site maintenance. The term “cascading” refers to the fact that not only can multiple style sheets, from a number of external sources, be included in an individulal document, but the browser will follow an order (that is, a cascade) to interpret the information.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Level 1 CCS defines how HTML tags should display their content.
Cascading-Style Sheets-Positioning (CSS-P) With CSS-P you can exactly position HTML elements anywhere in the window. It is possible also to control the visibility of those elements.
CGI The "Common Gateway Interface", CGI, is a protocol, not a programming language, which acts as an interface between the client (browser) and the web server. It is standard method of extending Web server functionality by executing programs or scripts on a Web server in response to Web browser requests. A common use of CGI is in form processing, where the Web browser sends form data to a CGI script on the server, the script integrates the data with a database, and sends back the results as a Web page. Use of CGI can make a Web page much more dynamic and add interactivity for the user. Any programme or script that sends or receives information from a server must follow the standards specified by the CGI protocol.
Cross-Browser DHTML The following technologies, with some exceptions, will run regardless of the DHTLM browser being used.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Level 1 CCS defines how HTML tags should display their content. Cascading-Style Sheets-Positioning (CSS-P) With CSS-P you can exactly position HTML elements anywhere in the window. It is possible also to control the visibility of those elements. JavaScript 1.2 JavaScript enables the generation of simple code to control the behaviour of web page elements.
Netscape Specific DHTML Neither of these technologies will become standard as CCS performs essentially the same functions and is endorsed by the W3C. JavaScript Style Sheets (JSS) Like CSS, JSS defines how HTML tags display their contents. JSS uses JavaScript syntax. Layers Like CSS-P, layers allow you to control the position of elements on the screen and their visibility.
Microsoft-Specific DHTML Microsoft–specific DHTML is based on proprietary Microsoft software and, therefore, unlikely to be a cross-browser technology. Visual Filters Visual filters let you perform visual effects on graphics and text in your document. They produce effects similar to those in Adobe Photoshop. Dynamic CSS With Microsoft Internet Explorer it is possible to change the position of elements on the screen together with their visual appearance.
Document Object Model, The The Document Object Model, known as the DOM, makes it possible to locate any element in a HTML document and use a script, such as JavaScript, to change the properties of the element. A DOM can address any element on the screen that has a unique identity. Examples are a replaced element, such as a named image, or an element that is identified by an ID. The DOM works by describing a path from a scripting language function to a screen element, usually in response to an event.
Currently there are two versions of the DOM, one for Netscape Navigator and one for Microsoft Internet Explorer. These are similar, but sufficiently different, that it is normally necessary to write two versions of a script, one for each browser. This is referred to as a “cross-browser DOM”.
Each new version of a browser includes new features that create backward compatibility problems. DHTM is ineffective for either Netscape or Microsoft browsers earlier than version 3. There are difficulties below version 4 of these browsers because of inconsistencies (and bugs!) in the CSS element mapping.
Dynamic CSS With Microsoft Internet Explorer it is possible to change the position of elements on the screen together with their visual appearance.
Dynamic HTML Dynamic HTML (DHTML) is a term used to describe a combination of HTML, Cascading Style Sheets and JavaScript.
In general, though not strictly true, the browsers that support DHTML are the newer browsers, in particular Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4 or later and Netscape versions 4 or later. Both browser versions implement DHTML in different ways based on proprietary standards.
When DHTML is employed it is usually necessary to make use of “browser detection” to create code specifically for each browser and it can be difficult to achieve a consistent “look and feel”. One of the greatest proponents of DHTML on the web is Microsoft, which makes extensive use of it across it’s sites. Through a judicious use of DHTML, Microsoft has created an extensible navigation system which permits visitors to reach most parts of a site with a single “mouse click”. It is exceptionally well executed but works only with Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 up and only on PC’s.
Event Handlers JavaScript, in common with other scripting languages, is event driven. Events occur when something happens in the browser window. The event can be initiated by the visitor, such as clicking on a link, or by the browser, such as loading a new document. An “event-handler” connects an event to a JavaScript function that performs an operation in the browser window.
Flash Flash is essentially a stripped-down version of Macromedia Director. Flash provides a cheap and cheerful way to generate interactivity on the Web. Many sites use Flash so badly that “Flash Apathy” causes most visitors use the “Skip Intro” button on Flash sites.
FrontPage Server Extensions A set of programs and scripts that support authoring in FrontPage and extend the functionality of a Web server. The FrontPage Server Extensions are available for Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) and other popular Windows and UNIX Web servers. To learn whether your Web server is supported, visit http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/
Helper Application A Helper Application is a program that is not a native part of a neither web browser nor software plug-in provided for the browser. Helper applications are used to display non-text information, particularly newly developed or multimedia content, that is beyond the capabilities of a browser at the time of its release.
HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language) The standard mark-up language used for documents on the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web Consortium carries out HTML development. The HTML language uses tags to indicate how Web browsers should display page elements such as text and graphics, and how Web browsers should respond to user actions such as hyperlink activation by means of a key press or mouse click. Most Web browsers, notably Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, recognize HTML tags beyond those included in the present standard. FrontPage reads and writes HTML files and no knowledge of the HTML language is required. See also World Wide Web Consortium.
Web pages are written in HTML. “HyperText Markup Language”. HTML consists of a variety of elements called “tags”, which are used for everything from defining style types and headings to inserting specialised content such as images, sounds or scripts. HTML has two essential attributes – hypertext and universality. Hypertext means that you can create a link in a web page that leads the visitor to any other web page or to anything else on the Internet [Ted Nelson is credited with coining the term hypertext in 1965]. Universality means that HTML files are saved as “Text Only” or ASCII files and can, therefore, be read by virtually any computer.
The World Wide Web is “open” but not “equal”. Virtually any computer can display web pages. What those pages actually look like depends on the type of computer, the operating system, the monitor, the speed of the Internet connection and lastly the software used to view the web page: the “browser”. The most popular browsers today are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator. Unfortunately, neither of these browsers displays a web page exactly like the other nor exactly like any other available browser.
It is necessary, but not sufficient, to simply design a beautiful web site. Consideration must be given to the platform used to view the site. It is estimated that web designers waste 25% of their time devising workarounds for proprietary tags and writing multiple versions of pages to satisfy each browser [and simply educating their clients about the impossibility of creating certain effects for all browsers].
Java A general-purpose programming language created by Sun Microsystems. Currently, the most widespread use of Java is in programming small applications, or applets, for the World Wide Web. See also Java applet.
Despite the name Java and JavaScript have little in common. Java was developed by Sun Microsystems and is essentially a descendant of the C and C++ programming languages. A major deviation from programming languages such as C, however, is the ability to separate program code from machine-specific actions. The “Java Virtual Machine” which is tailored to each platform then manages these system functions. The benefit for programmers and web designers is that a single piece of Java code will, theoretically, work on any machine that runs Java. In practice the prospect of cross-platform compatibility has not been fully realised.
Java is used to create applets, small programs that download over the Internet and run inside web browsers. JavaScript can interact with a Java applet in a web page. Java has become a de facto standard for programming large dynamic web sites. Examples of such sites are Barclaycard’s www.indigosquare.com and the Guardian’s www.workthing.com.
Java applet A Java class that is loaded and run by an already-running Java application such as a Web browser. Java applets can be downloaded and executed by a Web browser capable of interpreting Java, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. Java applets are frequently used to add multimedia effects and interactivity to Web pages, such as video displays, animations, calculators, real-time clocks, and interactive games. Applets can be activated automatically when the page containing them is displayed in a Web browser, or they may require some action on the part of the site visitor, such as clicking an element on the page.
JavaScript JavaScript is a client-side, cross platform, HTML embedded scripting language originally develped by Netscape and Sun Microsystems, Inc. JavaScript runs on a client computer, that is the web site viewer’s computer. JavaScript is cross platform in that it can be used on clients running a variety of operating systems. To say that JavaScript is embedded means that it can be put within HTML code to provide active and interactive applets to web pages. Compared to Java, JavaScript is limited in performance because it is not compiled before execution. Basic online applications and functions can be added to Web pages with JavaScript, but the number and complexity of available application programming interface functions are fewer than those available with Java. JavaScript code, which is included in a Web page along with the HTML code, is generally considered easier to write than Java, especially for novice programmers. A JavaScript-compliant Web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, is required to interpret JavaScript code.
JavaScript 1.2 JavaScript enables the generation of simple code to control the behaviour of web page elements.
JavaScript Style Sheets (JSS) Like CSS, JSS defines how HTML tags display their contents. JSS uses JavaScript syntax.
DHTML relies on the capabilities of JavaScript in order to move elements on the screen, cause elements to appear and disappear or change their appearance.
Jscript Microsoft (as usual) implemented JavaScript in its own fashion, which is not compatible with Netscape version. K
Layers Like CSS-P, layers allow you to control the position of elements on the screen and their visibility.
Microsoft Visual Basic A high-level, visual-programming version of Basic. Microsoft developed Visual Basic for building Windows-based applications.
Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) A macro-language version of Microsoft Visual Basic that is used to program Windows applications and is included with several Microsoft applications. See also Microsoft Visual Basic.
Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) A subset of the Visual Basic for Applications programming language, optimised for Web-related programming. As with JavaScript, code for Visual Basic, Scripting Edition is embedded in HTML documents. This version is included with Microsoft Internet Explorer. See also Microsoft Visual Basic.
Microsoft-Specific DHTML Microsoft–specific DHTML is based on proprietary Microsoft software and, therefore, unlikely to be a cross-browser technology.
Netscape Specific DHTML Netscape–specific DHTML is based on proprietary Netscape software and, therefore, unlikely to be a cross-browser technology.
Perl Practical Extraction and Report Language (Perl) is the most popular language for programming the CGI.
Perl was not originally designed for the Web. It was created, in 1986, by Larry Wall to generate reports for the company for which he was working. Over the years it has been developed into a powerful programming language. Perl is well suited to web-related tasks because it has powerful text manipulation features and is easily ported from one platform to another.
Perl scripts are often used for processing forms, creating guest books and web-based bulletin boards.
[Programmes are normally compiled so that they run more quickly on a particular operating system. Scripts are text files that are interpreted as necessary. Perl is a hybrid in that it is written in text format (like scripts) that are compiled each time you run them.]
PHP PHP, or Hypertext Pre-processor, is a server-side, cross-platform, HTML embedded scripting language. Server-side refers to the fact that all action performed by PHP occurs on the server as opposed to the client, that is the web site viewer’s computer. PHP is cross platform in that it can be used on servers running a variety of operating systems. To say that PHP is embedded means that it can be put within HTML code with which all web pages are built. PHP is event driven and handles data before it becomes HTML. It is somewhat similar to JavaScript. OmegaCubed.net does not offer PHP as the current version is not sufficiently stable on Microsoft Windows Operating Systems.
Plug-in One of a set of software modules that integrate into Web browsers to offer a range of interactive and multimedia capabilities. A plug-in is a dependent application, that integrates into Web browsers to offer a range of interactive and multimedia capabilities which extend a browser’s capability to present advanced or custom content without changing the browser itself. Originally developed by Netscape as “Helper Applications”, plug-ins are now provided by media content developers for the more popular browsers
Protocol A set of formalized rules that describe how data is transmitted over a network. Low-level protocols define the electrical and physical standard, while high-level protocols deal with formatting of data. TCP and IP are examples of high-level LAN protocols.
SOAP SOAP is a way for a program running on one operating system (such as Windows 2000) to communicate with a program running the same, or on a different operating system (such as Linux), by using the Word Wide Web’s Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and it’s eXstensible Mark-up Language (XML) as the mechanisms for information exchange. Web protocols are installed and available for use on all major operating systems and, therefore, HTTP and XML provide a solution to the problem of how programs running under different operating systems on a network can communicate with each other. SOAP specifies exactly how to encode an HTML header and an XML file so that a program running on one computer can call a program running on a second computer and pass it information. It specifies also how the called program can return a response.
TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol over Internet Protocol. The TCP/IP protocol defines how data can be transmitted in a secure manner between networks. TCP/IP is the most widely used communications standard and is the basis for the Internet.
VBScript VBScript is Microsoft scripting language.
Visual Filters Visual filters let you perform visual effects on graphics and text in your document. They produce effects similar to those in Adobe Photoshop.
World Wide Web Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web, in 1989, while trying to improve communications between scientists at the high-energy particle physics laboratory at CERN in Switzerland. His concept was to enable users to access a database using hypertext as the query mechanism. In a stoke of brilliance he realised that a hierarchical system of information would eventually collapse under it's own weight. He realised also that the information in the system would not be limited to text and that indexing would limit access to the information. His solution to these problems was distributed hypertext. The “meta” database consisted of many databases on different computers. The computers were linked on to a network with the data publicly available on the network. The network has now grown to include the Internet and the information available on this system may have no bounds.
The total set of interlinked hypertext documents residing on HTTP servers all over the world. Documents on the World Wide Web are called pages or Web pages, which are written in HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language). Web pages are identified by URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) that specify the particular computer and path name by which a file can be accessed, and transmitted from node to node to the end user under HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). Web pages may contain text in a variety of fonts and styles, pictures, graphics, movie clips, sounds, as well as small, embedded software programs that are executed when a site visitor activates them by clicking a hyperlink. Site visitors may also be able to download files and send messages to other users via e-mail by using links on a Web page.
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) A consortium of commercial and educational institutions that oversees research and promotes standards in all areas related to the World Wide Web.
XML, The Future XML, Extensible Markup Language is a near relation to HTML and has two important features to assist with the indexing of web pages by search engines: It allows web page designers to create their own tags according to their needs. completely separates content from formatting through the use of style sheets. That is, there is no data in an XML document contained in tags that provide only formatting instructions. All data is identified by the XML tags in which it is enclose.
Pages written in XML are easier for computers to read and catalogue. At present only Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5, or later, can read XML files directly. Older browsers require that XML be converted to HTML before viewing. Browsers will continue to support HTML for many years to come.
