Webpoint utilise the following Internet technologies for systems development:

XHTML and CSS

For web site development the XML compliant version of HTML is used in conjunction with CSS (cascading style sheets). With CSS, the presentation of the web site can be altered independently of the content. Documentation can be dynamically generated for printing by using a CSS stylesheet for print media.

Javascript

Javascript is the 'client side' scripting language used to enhance the capabilities of the web site, for example the "show detail" and "hide detail" functions on the about-us page are controlled using the Javascript language.

AJAX

Asynchronous JavaScript And XML (AJAX) is used to dynamically refresh part of a web page. This technology allows data to be transferred to and from a Web Server and returned to the browser without having to refresh the whole page, only part of the page is refreshed making the process faster and more user friendly.

Perl and PHP

The scripting languages used for the 'server side' processing are Perl or PHP in conjunction with CGI (Common Gateway Interface). These languages are used to generate on-line forms and transfer data between the database and the front-end (client). Using Perl and the available modules it is possible to do a whole range of processes including generating PDF and RTF electronic documents, database interactions, parsing on-line form data, generating and sending emails etc.

XML Technologies

XML and the associated techologies are used to transfer data into your web based system. This can be achieved by using HTTPS and sending XML as the body of the request or using Web Service methods such as SOAP. Using a data exchange mechanism is common for sites that show data that is changing constantly and needs to be up to date for all people using the web based system.

Relational Databases

For the more straightforward systems, the MySQL relational database is used for storing data. For larger systems Postgress can be used, and for very large transaction processing systems the Oracle database can be used. Any other SQL compliant relational database that is already in place can be linked to our applications.

JPEG and GIF Digital Images

Graphics for the web pages are created using Adobe Photoshop and Imageready. Digital photographs can also be included for the graphics on the web site. Other products such as Macromedia Flash are used if specialised graphic effects are required for the web site. Digital photgraphs can be added to the website, and these may be provided by the client or sourced from the Internet. Please note that graphics and photographs sourced from the Internet may not be free.

Data Encryption

Secure data exchange is required for sensitive information. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and HTTPS is used to enable secure access and the data is encrypted for sending across the Internet.

Email

Email messages can be sent as formatted messages (HTML) or plain text. A system can be configured to automatically send emails containing content that can be populated from a simple text file or extracted from a database. This can be achieved using Perl or PHP scripts with the available email modules that can be used with both programming languages.

Systems Integration

Third party processes such as on-line payment functionality can be incorporated into a web site. This can be a simple solution where the purchaser goes to a payment provider's site such as Verisign, to a more complex solution where the web based system needs to have data returned from the payment provider and further processing carried out. For a more complex solution, payment providers use processes known as Instant Payment Notification that allow transactional information to be stored in a database, and the system is customised to process data returned from the payment provider. This background processing takes place using HTTPS requests between the payment provider and the web system.