Toward Web-based application management systems

As Web technology spreads, the number, variety, and sophistication of Web-based information services is literally exploding. While some effort has been put into managing a single, centrally controlled Web site, current Web technologies offer little help for managing Web-based applications in-the-large. This is partly due to the distributed, heterogeneous, and open nature of such applications. This paper proposes a generic framework for managing Web-based applications which addresses both semantic and managerial issues. Semantic issues are addressed through the inclusion of a domain model component in the framework which describes the kinds of information that are available. Management issues are treated through a framework which includes formally defined notions for an information model, information base consistency, transactions, and concurrency control. Thus, the proposed management system provides a semantically robust environment for Web-based information services while allowing for Web source independence.