  Seeking Database UI Design Assistance? 
 The Question is:
 
We have a client running a VAX with OpenVMS 6.2, Oracle RDMS and ACMS COBOL
 transactions. They currently have a VB6 desktop GUI front end using
 ACMSDesktop to initiate ACMS transactions on the VAX. They have an Alpha box
 they will be upgrading to in the n
ear future.
 
We have been asked to web enable the current functionality by replacing the VB
 GUI with HTML front end.
 
What is the recommended option to take:
 
1) Should we use Apache under OpenMVS using the Java VM and write JSP/servlets
 which talk to the existing ACMS transactions.
2) Should we run a seperate web server on a Solaris or NT box and use
 JSP/servlets or ASP pages and reuse the ACMSDesktop middleware.
3) What about this TP Internet product?
 
Help Please
 
 
 The Answer is:
 
  The OpenVMS Wizard is not in a position to make a recommendation without
  far more information on your customer's application requirements.
 
  All of your suggested approaches will work, and there are a number
  of variant approaches and tools (COM/DCOM, multiple webservers (many
  folks still incorrectly assume that all of the contents of a webpage
  must reside on and be served via a single webserver, for instance),
  distributed transactions via RTR, Oracle Webserver tools, remote
  database access via ODBC or JDBC, etc) available.
 
  Regardless of what the end-user believes, a web-based front-end may or
  may not be the most appropriate approach and may or may not be the most
  appropriate technology.  This needs to be carefully investigated and
  considered.  Also, any problems with the current GUI obviously need to
  be considered during this process.  Also current and future performance
  requirements need to be considered.  Further, the current design may
  well permit new front-ends to be incrementally added or it may require
  that all front-ends be replaced with the new front-end simultaneously.
 
