XML based user driven web forms

Abstract

The world wide web(WWW) has emerged as the platform of choice for the dissemination of knowledge and information on a global scale. It is also the means of collating data and information from disparate sources for storage, use and retrieval. The WWW has undergone growth since its invention in the 1980. What started as a means of linking files across distributed computers on the network so that users (mainly researchers) could assess the same and follow the links to more and more connected files has become the huge virtual world that we have. The WWW is currently an environment where data can be captured, stored and retrieved for analysis and reporting. The most commonly used framework entails having a three layer software stack model composed of the database, the web server and the web browser. This stack requires a superuser or a programmer to manage it. Web developers write every page by hand. Where there is some automation in the generation of pages, complex content management systems are deployed for the creation of HTML pages that are stored in a relational database. In this thesis we will propose a framework where the end user can manage a data capture, data storage and data retrieval software stack with limited technology knowledge. We will utilise the current research tools that are envisaged to create the web version 3.0. The advantage of this framework is the elimination of the "middle-man" developer or programmer and giving power to the main user of the information that is captured on the web application