Development Phase

Nature and type of the database 

In principle database is an organized collection of related data in today’s world typically in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality (for example the forest cover of a region) in a way that supports processes requiring this information.The term database is correctly applied to the data and their supporting data structures, and not to the relational database management system (RDBMS). Whereas, the term database system implies that the data is managed to some level of quality (measured in terms of accuracy, availability, usability, and resilience) and this in turn often implies the use of a general purpose relational database management system (RDBMS).

The utilization of databases is now so widespread that virtually every technology and product relies on databases and RDBMSs for its development and commercialization,or even may have such software embedded in it. Well known DBMSs include Oracle , IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and  SQLite.The database and information system developed under WLRC is a multipurpose, user-friendly –wherever possible, online – that allows users to access reliable data, information, and knowledge of the available data on water, land, and socioeconomic conditions in the country and in the region at large.

The database is aimed at satisfying as many applications as possible, which typically makes it even more attractive than special-purpose databases developed one-time. As a result the developed database intended to meet various requirements, standards and principles of enterprise database that allows storing spatial and non-spatial data in the same container. Nevertheless, as the main objective of the resource centre is to collect, store, analyses and disseminate water and land related information, so the majority of the data stored in the database are more of water and land related information.

The database technology 

In selecting the technologies, the current database and information system took in to consideration the following criteria: 

To meet the above criteria care was taken during the technology selection  that are used to store the data, write the script and disseminate the information to the end users.

The database at the backend is organized with

a)   PostgreSQL

 b)    PostGIS 

  c)  PgAdmin III 

Web Application 

 a) Server Side Scripting Language

 

The server side script is written using Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP). It is a general-purpose scripting language that can be applied for various applications. The following shows specificity of PHP.

b) Front Side Scripting Language

 

jQuery is the library used to develop the web application. The reason to select this library includes among others

Web Server 

Apache and Apache Tomcat web servers are selected to run the web application and geoserver respectively. These servers are most popular, widely used, open source and platform independent. 

Software Architecture 

The software architecture is based on Model-View-Control (MVC) which is to date, considered as an architectural pattern, used in software engineering. To implement MVC Architectural pattern in the database Zend Framework is employed. It is an open Source, object Oriented web application framework for PHP that provides an advanced MVC implementation.

 

Back to Top