MSM-Workstation
The Macbeth Example -- Using MSM-PDQweb

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Windows versus Web

The main difference between accessing a database from a windows-based interface and doing the same from a web-based interface lies in the level of granularity of the programming that has to be done to make the application work. In the case of a windows-based approach, the programmer will have to anticipate many possible events, and handle each of these appropriately. In the case of a web-based approach, the number of interactions between application software and end-user activity is a lot smaller.

An advantage of a web-based approach is that a lot of processing is left to the "browser", and that the end-user can decide which brand of "browser" to use. Any browser will do, as long as the application doesn't expect any specific extensions to the elementary set of capabilities that all commercial browser-products share.

A dis-advantage of a web-based approach is that the programmer has to abandon a certain level of control, and that the interactions between the software and the end-user activity are a lot more restricted.

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