Click on the picture to learn more about MapGuide.

Since the tool was to be implemented online, I had to find a way to communicate between the database, the map, and the forms.  The SHIM server supports ColdFusion web publications, and so I chose to use this software.  ColdFusion is a very robust  software system used on web servers, and is designed to simplify the process of developing interactive web pages.  It adds functionality to regular HTML websites through the use of CFML (ColdFusion Markup Language) scripting to produce a Rapid Application Development (RAD) environment.

Although this may sound complicated (and it can be!), how it works is really quite easy.  Using ColdFusion is just like programming a regular web page in HTML, the only difference is that HTML is static, wherease CFML allows for dynamic output.  When a regular HTML page is loaded into a web browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer, the browser translates the code and displays the page.  When a visitor asks the web server for a page written in CFML, the web server software passes the page to ColdFusion Server.  ColdFusion queries the database to get the data for the page.  When the database returns the data, ColdFusion Server processes the CFML, which generally results in the creation of some HTML, and then passes the same page back to the browser, which converts the HTML into what the visitor sees.  The diagram below shows this process visually.

ColdFusion is a combination of HTML and CFML, and it also utilizes the Standard Query Language (SQL) to "talk" with databases.  SQL coding is a huge discipline, but lucky for me I only had to create some minor queries for this project.

The graphing tool (which I haven't developed yet) utilizes Java scripting.  With Java the user downloads a program, called an aplet, along with the web page.  The browser, with the built-in Java interpreter, is able to run the applet from the user's own machine.  Programming graphic interfaces with Java is quite complicated, which is why I haven't been able to finish it yet.

ColdFusion communicates with a database, therefore I needed database software.  I chose Microsoft Access because I was able to obtain a copy of it, and also because it is the most popular software platform used with ColdFusion.