Forms to mail
Forms to mail provides an easy way to collect information that you might
otherwise have requested in an email. The form is accessed and filled out using
a standard web browser. Often the notification and request of the desired
respondents is done using email. The advantage of the forms is that the form is
clearer than email questions, the response is easier and the results are in a
standard format. Forms to mail can also be used on a strictly pull page for
feedback and collecting information about the audience.
Forms to database
This works exactly like forms to mail, except the results are fed directly into
a database manager. A CGI or Java script or an interface provided by the
database vendor mediates the results. This can be used to populate or update a
database or to query a database depending on the script.
Database to HTML
This is basically a database report formatted in HTML. One use is to return the
results from a form-to-database query. However, a more sophisticated use is to
generate custom pages for a user based on the user's profile. The profile might
be based on personal interests, history of past accesses or it might be based on
security clearance. The page generated then contains only the information of
interest or only the information that user is allowed to see.
Personal Agents
Personal agents were discussed in the previous section. They provide an
intermediate option between complete push and complete pull, and might be viewed
as user initiated push. The key to a personal agent is that it is controlled by
the user. The user can turn on specificly targeted push, turn it off and direct
what it is looking for. Agents can be used to monitor pull pages so the user
knows when updates occur without continual checking (Katipo and WebSeeker).
Agents can be used to screen, sort and even delete incoming mail. They can be
used to search, monitor and screen the Intranet for specific content The actual
logic and processing may reside either on a server or on the client. For
example, Amazon Books provides a server-side personal agent called, "Eyes,"that
screens for books with specified characteristics. A company specializing in
agents that provide options between complete pull and complete push is First
Floor.
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