Software Review: Web Catalog Authoring Software
By Alyson Behr
Cat@log Direct-To-Web 1.0
This product is manufactured by The Vision Factory, Inc. of Scotts Valley, California. We looked at the Enterprise version which is targeted toward large interactive agencies, Web consultants and corporations developing their own catalogs. They also expect to establish partnerships with ISPs, systems integrators and commercial Website developers in the future.
Overall, Cat@log is a well-planned and stable application. The product is divided into two primary components, Cat@log Builder and Cat@log Manager, that divide tasks into workstation site creation and server-side database synchronization with the finished site.
Manager is available for Windows NT 3.51/4.0, and requires a PC with 16 MB of RAM, as well as Sun Solaris 2.5, which needs a SPARC machine with 32 MB of RAM. UNIX versions were in development at press time. Database compatibility includes Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and Microsoft Access, as well as most ODBC-compliant database and spreadsheet applications. It supports ASCII text files and browser supported image formats. Cat@log also supports Java and Shockwave allowing for more organic catalog development. Builder is compatible with Windows 95 or NT and requires 16 MB of RAM.
Figure 1 Catalog Builder is one of two components that make up Cat@log.
Installation from the CD-ROM was a two-fold process. We installed Builder (See Figure 1) and Manager on the workstation, and then Manager on the server. Manager needed to be moved into the cgi-bin directory on both the PC and the server. The database must also be set up and designated on both the local machine and the server.
Documentation consisted of installation directions, a Tutorial, User guide as well as software and licensing information. It was generally concise, accurate, and produced favorable results when followed, but skipping back and forth as requested between the User Guide and Tutorial to set up components that weren’t fully implemented (like the shopping basket) became time consuming and annoying. Enter tech support, which proved outstanding: they were courteous, helpful and extremely competent.
Cat@log Builder’s functionality is divided into site structure and navigation tools, a data source module and page design tools. It required us to designate a WYSIWYG editor, text editor and a browser to preview pages in. It also needed a workstation server to be running to build the database connectivity features.
COOL WITH TOOLS
While we chose Microsoft FrontPage 97, Notepad, Netscape Navigator 3.0 and selected Personal Web Server to work locally, designers are free to choose their favorite tools. This decreases the learning curve substantially, and is a time-saving, therefore cost-effective feature from the developer and network manager’s point of view. It also lessens the chances of your designers mutinying at having to learn yet another authoring tool. Morale is important, right?
It’s cool that the product is as open as it is, but we found the strongest magic in Cat@log Builder when we began working with the Component wizards. It utilizes 7 basic components to implement its features.
First, you select links—either textual or graphical—and the Navigator component inserts them automatically into pages that you designate, creating immediate navigational function to the site.
The Query component creates a search function that pulls up information from the database and displays it on a page. Data components create data shells which are filled with actual data from the database on the server by Cat@log Manager as the page is requested. If a user requests a large list of items, the server shows as many at a time as you’ve set it up for. Using Data components, we reduced the number of fields for simplicity’s sake, added fields, renamed fields, rearranged and created passwords for them. It was possible to make tables listed in the database unavailable to the designer by leaving them unchecked in the Data Source window, and give them new names or aliases, if the original name was unclear.
Another component, the Select component, behaves somewhat like the Query without the search form, except that you predefine the results. This comes in handy for specifying Monthly Specials or Blow Out Sale items.
Figure 2 The include component lets the developer include HTML, text and code.
The Include component (See Figure 2) works nicely to give consistency to your Headers and Footers by allowing your choice of external HTML files to be embedded on the page.
We found that in order to implement the Shopping Basket and Order Form, we needed to use the Custom component. Wizards hadn’t been developed for these online commerce components in Builder, but were supported by Manager once constructed. The new 2.0 version will have these two fully implemented and several new ones as well.
Cat@log Manager facilitated the delivery of requested data from the database and HTML pages. The server retrieved our files from the Root Document Directory and Manager coordinated the interaction with the databases from the cgi-bin. It’s critical that the full path to the cgi-bin be followed, because Manager creates a configuration file when you publish and Builder must know where to direct this file. Inside this file is the path to the Document Directory. The configuration file must be placed in the identical cgi-bin directory that the Manager files containing the page.exe and stat.exe programs are. If you intend to manage several catalogs, you’ll need to create separate cgi-bin directories for each catalog.
Running a site on a remote server demands that you first publish the catalog locally and then FTP the files over. You’ll still have to use the Publish command to activate the live components and create proper path names before starting the transfer.
We tested the results in Netscape 3.0 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0, finding only minor differences in appearance.
Cat@log will be more than able to keep up with your catalog’s growth…at a price. Builder retails for $1,950 for one workstation. Manager is scaled in proportion to numbers of items being offered on the catalog. On-Line Publisher costs $2,650 and gives you the right to create one catalog that contains 1,000 items. On-Line Publisher Pro, at a cost of $5,250, will give you the rights to publish one catalog with up to 10,000 items. The Enterprise version allows for one catalog with over 10,000 items and retails for $7,850. Cat@log Commerce, which supports integration for secure transactions with back-end systems like Cybercash, and Customer Statistics, a market analysis tool, are available at $995 each for one catalog on a single server and require Publisher to be installed. So your minimum investment is $4,600 before you’ve added its commerce and stats features. It’s pricey, but considering that it functions as advertised, it’s certainly worth consideration.
iCat 3.0 (more of review)
Web Developer® Site Feedback
Web Developer®
Copyright © 2000 internet.com Corporation. All rights reserved.
Database Journal: The Knowledge Center for Database Professionals
