the design of your intranet and should encourage management to choose the model that will best serve your organization. Ideally, the final decision will be based on the necessary responsibility and control of the intranet resources. Following a centralized model, a specific department within the organization will be responsible for the intranet. This same department will be responsible for the setup, design, and administration of your intranet servers. The department will also be responsible for creating the necessary publications and applications based on user requests. With a centralized model, there will usually be a formal approval process for new publications, applications and services. This means that if the Human Resources department wanted an application to track employee files, a formal request would be required. Once the request is approved, the intranet developers would work with Human Resources to create the application. The problem with centralized control and formal approval processes is that they put creativity and timeliness in thumbscrews. Can you imagine having to get formal approval to change the dates in an intranet published memo? Following a decentralized model, each department within the organization is responsible for its section of the intranet. All departments that want to create intranet services will have to set up, design and administer their own intranet servers. Each department will also be responsible for creating the publications and applications used by the department. When you use a decentralized model, you cut out the formal approval process for new publications, applications, and services. This means anyone can create intranet resources. Greater freedom and few controls means that new services can be set up quickly by anyone who wants to set them up. This freedom and lack of controls can also lead to abuse of the intranet resources. Who do you blame when someone publishes potentially offensive material or when the usefulness of the intranet deteriorates because so much junk has been created? By adopting elements of both the centralized and decentralized model that fit the needs of the organization, you might be able to balance the need for strict control with the need for creative freedom. For example, you could create an intranet with a centralized Web server that links together departmental servers. The IS staff would be responsible for maintaining the central server and updating links to resources throughout the organization. The individual departments would be responsible for maintaining their own servers. To ensure the intranet is not abused, one person within each department could be responsible for that department’s intranet resources. Creating Content for Your Intranet The real stars on your intranet are the applications you plan to develop. Still, you will need content for your intranet. Most of your content will be in the form of hypertext documents that are served by your Web server and displayed by your chosen Web browser. As you consider the type of content you want to publish on your intranet, think about how you will organize that content. You can organize hypertext documents in many ways. The structure that is best for a particular document depends on the complexity of the material you plan to present. As complexity increases, you manage it by adopting a more advanced structuring method. Specific design models for hypertext documents include
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Even if you thrive on deadlines, plan to work toward intranet’s goals and milestones regularly-every day if necessary and possible. You should also plan to work on the intranet and its applications during those times when your thoughts are not flowing. Everyone has bad days and good days. Some days you take more breaks. Some days you work straight through the day and into the night. You might tend toward other destructive behavior besides avoiding or putting off work. Sometimes programmers go to the opposite extreme. They tear things apart impulsively before letting the work cool off so they can look at it objectively. Never hack your code just because a few users didn’t like your application’s interface. Determining the Best Organization for Your Intranet Managing the aspects of the intranet’s design and creation is only the beginning. The next step is to determine the best organization for your intranet. Over the years, three models have developed for information systems like your intranet: centralized, decentralized, and a combination of centralized and decentralized. Learning from the Past The three computing models are really driven by the types of computers in use at an organization. Following the centralized model, all computer resources are centered in one location and under the management of one organization. When you think of centralized computing, think of mainframes and computer centers. With the introduction of file server and client server computing, most organizations moved away from the centralized model toward a decentralized model. In decentralized computing, computer resources are spread throughout the organization and under the management of the departments in which the computers are located. When you think of decentralized computing, think of the high-power workstations and servers. After the big move to decentralize computer resources and dismantle massive computer centers, many managers had a rude awakening to the anarchy decentralized computing can cause. Imagine an organization where each department sets the rules and decides the standards, like what hardware and software to purchase and how that hardware and software should be set up. Then imagine the nightmare of trying to support the gauntlet of software and hardware installed throughout an organization the size of AT&T. Because of a lack of control with decentralized computing, many organizations are moving to the happy middle ground of a mixed computing model. In this mixed model, a centralized Information Systems management sets broad policy, such as the direction and purpose of key computing initiatives, and the individual departments are free to work within those guidelines. Applying the Past to Your Intranet’s Future As you discuss the implementation of the intranet with management, keep the three computing models in mind. While your organization might currently use a specific model, you can apply any of the models to
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the development team. Later, you might discover that your best role is to manage the development at a higher level. Or if you are the top programmer or network administrator, you might find that you need to work on application design rather than the actual programming. Adapting your role as necessary can help the project succeed. Managing Goals When you start working on the intranet design and creation process, one of the first things you should do is develop goals. Your goals should take into consideration the complexities and nuances of the intranet you plan to develop for your organization. Goals should be clear and relevant to the problem at hand. Set major goals relevant to the purpose, scope, and audience of the intranet. Also, set minor goals or milestones for the stages of the intranet development and its applications. Goals and milestones help define the intranet development process as a series of steps or achievements. One major goal could be to complete the planning of the intranet; another major goal could be to complete the design of the intranet. The series of steps necessary to complete the major goals are the minor goals or milestones. Your first milestone will be to start work on the intranet. Another milestone might be to select and purchase the necessary intranet software, such as Web server software, browser software, and a Java Development environment. Your goals are to complete the major steps of the development process, such as planning and design. You will learn all about these major steps later in this chapter in the section titled, “Mapping Your Intranet in Four Easy Steps.” Managing Rules As the intranet designer and manager, you will probably create or be provided rules that pertain specifically to the intranet’s layout or scope of control, such as the Information Systems department that will have overall responsibility for the intranet after completion. As you start to create the intranet, these rules might seem perfectly acceptable. However, as you conduct planning for the intranet and its applications, you might find that the overall responsibility of the intranet should be divided amongst the departments that will set up intranet servers. If these early rules cannot be modified to fit the current situation, you will have problems. You might encounter delays due to loss of efficiency or the final product might not be what was expected. No rule should ever be considered absolute. Even the best of rules should be interpreted as guidelines that can vary depending on the situation. Rules for a complex project like your intranet should be flexible and make sense. A rule that conflicts with something you are trying to do should be reexamined. The rule might be inappropriate for the situation you are trying to apply it to. Managing Behavior Your intranet will never be implemented if you avoid working on it. Putting off work until something is due is a poor practice. Quitting when things do not go your way or when you seem to have a block is another poor practice.
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l The building blocks for creating a perfect intranet l Determining the best organization for your intranet l Creating content for your intranet l Intranet development and resource tools l Mapping your intranet in four easy steps Building Blocks for Creating a Perfect Intranet Think of the creative process as a building process. Try to build the roof of the house before you lay the foundation, and you are going to have serious problems. Pour the concrete for the foundation of the house before you put in the necessary plumbing for water and sewer access, and you are going to spend more money than you bargained for. You build a house one step at a time. You ensure the house has a strong foundation. Buildings with strong foundations tend to weather the seasons and time. When you are almost done with the frame of the house, you build a roof. Although the roof of the house is the top of the structure, you do not stop there. It takes more than a covered frame to make a house. You hire an electrician to do the wiring and bring back the plumber to finish the plumbing. Afterward, you hang plaster board, add insulation, finish the exterior, add fixtures, and before you know it, you have a house that you can call home. You build an intranet in the same way, one step at a time. Your start on the intranet is about as glamorous as the water and sewer pipes waiting for the foundation to be poured around them; for just when you are ready to roll back your sleeves and dive into the intranet creation process with both feet, you might discover you need to conduct research, planning, or consider the requirements of the intranet. When you finally flesh out the foundation of the intranet, you start to build the framework. The basic components of any intranet are the hardware and software that make it work. The hardware your intranet uses will determine the way the intranet operates. The software your intranet uses will determine what the intranet is used for. Eventually, you finish designing the intranet, but find you still have to develop the hot Java-powered applications for the intranet. Even when you have completed the design and development processes, the intranet still is not finished. You check the structure of the work for flaws. You make sure you have used the right structure and created the best tools. You examine the fixtures. Once all this is done, you finally have an intranet worthy of the CEO’s wholehearted embrace. Try to build the whole house at once and you will be overwhelmed. The same is true for any creative process. When you are building your intranet and its applications, you need to manage many things on a level of general organization and on a more specific level. Managing Expectations If you mismanage expectations, your intranet might not turn out as you planned. Your expectations and the expectations of your superiors might be totally different. Before you start to design the intranet and the Java-powered applications for the intranet, make sure your expectations and the expectations of your supervisors mesh. A good way to do this is to ensure that the communications channels are open and
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used. To ensure that your project is a smashing success, you should discuss expectations throughout the development of the intranet, especially as you develop your intranet applications. If you develop a rapid prototype of key applications, your superiors should be the ones to verify that the designs meet their expectations. If the prototypes do not meet their expectations, maybe the prototypes were an example of what not to do, or maybe the expectations of management are unrealistic. If your prototypes meet or exceed the expectations of your superiors, you have a green light and your project is well on its way to a successful implementation. You should also manage your personal expectations for the intranet and its applications. Your expectations play a major role in the success of the intranet. The following is a list of do’s and don’ts to help you manage expectations: l Do expect the creation and development process to be challenging and fun. l Don’t expect first efforts to be perfect. l Don’t expect the intranet to be perfect. l Do expect to revise and improvise as necessary. l Do expect to learn a lot. Managing Perceptions Realistic expectations ensure the success of your intranet. If you perceive the intranet as an impossibly large undertaking, you might cripple yourself mentally. If you perceive the intranet as a trivial undertaking, you will not produce the best possible structure and tools for your organization. It is best to find a balance in your perceptions about the intranet. As you begin to design the intranet, keep in mind that the intranet creation process is a team effort. Few individuals will be able to handle all aspects of creating the intranet and its applications. For this reason, you should have an accurate perception of your abilities and know when it is in the best interest of the project to delegate tasks. Managing Strategies Creating an intranet is exciting and challenging. You’ll be breaking new ground, trying new things, and experimenting with new applications. Manage the intranet creation process in whatever way will motivate you. If one way of thinking about the intranet is not motivating you, change tactics. Do whatever it takes to get the job done. Do not limit yourself to a few strategies or stick with one strategy when it obviously is not working. Make a list of strategies. If one strategy is not working, switch to a new one. If you do not have a new one, create a new one. The strategy you use can be very basic. A great strategy to start with is to plan to work on the project every day until it is completed. In addition to this strategy, you should add planning to involve both management and users in the development process. The degree of involvement for management and users might need to be adjusted throughout the development process. Your role in the project should be a part of your strategy. Initially, you might want to work closely with
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Chapter 3 Planning Your Intranet Environment CONTENTS Building Blocks for Creating a Perfect Intranet m Managing Expectations m Managing Perceptions m Managing Strategies m Managing Goals m Managing Rules m Managing Behavior l Determining the Best Organization for Your Intranet m Learning from the Past m Applying the Past to Your Intranet’s Future l l Creating Content for Your Intranet Intranet Development Tools m Implementing TCP/IP Networking m Creating Web Services with HTTP l Intranet Developer’s Resource Tools m HTML Development Tools l Mapping Your Intranet in Four Easy Steps m Step 1: Determining Requirements m Step 2: Planning m Step 3: Design m Step 4: Implementation l l Summary In this chapter, you will learn how to plan your intranet. Creating a successful intranet is a matter of planning. Start your intranet on a solid foundation, follow through with good organization, and you can map out an intranet you will be proud of. This chapter covers the following topics:
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program, you want to carefully consider whether you need a strict security model. Standalone applications can also run native code. This means that if you have source code in other programming languages that you want to use with your intranet applications, you probably want to create an application. Keep in mind that native code, such as C or C++, is compiled for a specific operating system. Thus if you use native code, you lose the platform independence and widespread portability you gain by programming with Java. Note Most organizations that develop software have large libraries of native code. Before you automatically decide that using native code is a done deal, study the current Java APIs. You may be pleasantly surprised when you find that functions you’ve coded in C, C++, SmallTalk, or some other programming language are already available in Java. Running Applications and Applets Most intranets have many different types of servers and follow a loose client-server model. In an ideal client-server environment, clients maintain the application front end, the user interface, and the binary executable for the client interface. Servers maintain the application back end, the server software, and data. Using a strict client-server model reduces traffic on the intranet and balances the demand for resources around the network. In the real world, many network applications use a file server model where the server has both the binary executable for the client interface and the necessary data files for the application. Because clients execute applications by way of the server and retrieve data from the server, you often have dramatically more network traffic and heavy loads on your file servers. As you design your intranet applications, keep the client server and the file server models in mind. Because Java applications are invoked by the Java interpreter running on a local machine and can retrieve files from remote servers, your Java applications generally follow a client-server model. Java applets, on the other hand, usually run on a remote machine and because of this generally follow a file server model. Although it seems you should immediately choose the client-server model over the file server model, there are benefits to following a file server model. The two key benefits of the file server model are related to storage and maintenance. With the client-server model, all workstations generally have a copy of the intranet application on their file system which requires space on the workstation’s hard drive. Since there are copies of the application on all your workstations, you must copy new versions of the application whenever you make revisions, which may create a maintenance nightmare. With the file server model, there is usually only one copy of the application and it is on the file server, which makes updating the application very easy.
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Summary After reading this chapter, you should have a clear understanding of the design issues related to Java programming. The fundamental decision you must make is whether to create your intranet application as an applet or as an app. As you’ve seen, there are many reasons why you may choose to design an applet rather than an application and vice versa. Before you create your intranet applications, consider the underlying issues surrounding applet and app design, including security, file access, the ability to use native code, and network design.
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In your Java applet, you read the value set for the TEXT parameter as follows: Msg = getParameter (”TEXT”); Creating Applications Unfortunately, Java programmers don’t create applications as often as they create applets. One reason for this is that many programmers don’t understand when to use applications. More Options with Applications Although applications and applets are similar, there are more options available when working with an application. Primarily this is because applications are standalone programs that require you to create the user interface. For example, the most common method for exiting an application is a Quit or Exit option on a pull-down menu. When you create an application, you need to build a menu bar, add menus to the menu bar, and options for the menus. One of the options on your menu system is the Quit or Exit option. While having to create your own interface outside the context of a browser may seem like a drawback, you actually have more options available to you when you build a unique interface for your application. Applications Have a Different Structure Generally, applications are run by the Java interpreter on a local machine, which eliminates the need to create an HTML page to view your Java program. Additionally, because you do not need an external viewer to run applications, applications can provide users with better performance. Better performance translates to improved response times and, often, increased productivity. All applications require a static main() method. Unlike C++, Java’s main() method must be part of the public class that defines an application. When you run an application, the Java interpreter executes the main() method and in turn, the main() method creates instances of objects and lets the objects control the execution of the program. Applications Have Different Security Considerations Because applications are run using the Java interpreter, they are not subject to the security constraints of the applet security manager. This gives applications a substantial advantage over applets and means applications have unrestricted access to the client’s file system. Therefore, unless you specifically set up restrictions otherwise, standalone applications can l Read from and write to files. l Create directories. l Check file system, type, and modification date. l Start other programs on the client. Although being able to access the local file system provides an advantage non-local applets do not have, a lack of security constraints can cause problems. Therefore, if security is a major issue with your
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ALIGN=RIGHT Align applet with the right side of the document. ALIGN=TEXTTOP Align applet with the top of the tallest text on its line. ALIGN=TOP Align applet with the topmost item on its line. The HSPACE and VSPACE attributes are used to specify the amount of white space around the applet. HSPACE defines the horizontal space on either side of the applet and VSPACE defines the vertical space above and below the applet. The value assigned to these attributes is defined in pixels. You use HSPACE=10 and VSPACE=10 in the
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