This presentation illustrates the utility of using a relational database such as Oracle as the "back end" of a complex web site. We intend to migrate JEFFLINE (http://jeffline.tju.edu/) from a collection of thousands of unwieldy HTML documents to a more organized, structured approach using Oracle. Although Oracle is a tested and tried "industrial strength" relational database, the means to integrate it with the WWW are in their infancy. We have used WOW, which stands for Web- Oracle-Web, as the glue or "middleware" to connect the HTTP server to the Oracle database.

Several "stand-alone" modules within JEFFLINE are already built using Oracle, i.e., JEDI (the Jefferson Electronic Documentary Images database), Q&A Web (exam questions database), a Medical Informatics course* and a project-management "Goals database" on our Intranet. Here, we will discuss our prototype JEFFLINE NG ("Next Generation") web site, where Oracle generates the menu structure -- replacing a hierarchy of hand-coded HTML pages. Since each bullet on a menu page is actually generated "on the fly" from the database, many new features are enabled. For example, automated features include the "Alphabetical List" of links and the "New on JEFFLINE" page. This approach also allows the user to customize the look of JEFFLINE. Do you want short concise menus or more descriptive ones? Data stored with each link also help to keep the content current by specifying an expiration date for the link and who is responsible for the link.

The technical expertise required to build a "WOW-enabled" web site is high, requiring a knowledge of both PL/SQL and HTML. However, we believe that this is the most cost-effective way to build and maintain a complex active web site. Hopefully, by the time you read this there will even be easier ways to make the HTML to database transition.