Detailed Description of a WebZ Session

Introduction

This topic provides a step-by-step description of a the beginning portion of WebZ session, from user logon to the construction of the Home Screen in the interface. The purpose of this topic is to give you a "behind the scenes" view of the processes that generate the WebZ interface. This topic does not describe every feature available in the WebZ interface, rather it concentrates on some essential operations that demonstrate the processes involved in generating the interface. Understanding how these processes work will help you customize the WebZ interface to meet your needs.

The Example WebZ Session

To describe the processes that generate WebZ, this topic walks you step-by-step through the beginning phase of an example WebZ session. The overall stages of the example session are described below. Keep in mind that the example session is a simple one and is not intended to walk you through every feature in WebZ. Instead, the purpose of the example session is to explain the essential operations in the interface and give you a starting point from which you can explore more advanced WebZ features on your own.

The example session uses the WebZ Out-of-the-Box Interface (OBI), default style. Unless otherwise noted, the screens, HTML files, configuration files, etc. used in the example session are from a default installation of WebZ (i.e., one that has not been customized).

Because of the number of subjects that will be introduced, the example session is presented in a series of stages. If you are new to WebZ and are learing about the interface for the first time, you should read the stages in the order they appear.

Stage 1: The user sends a request to begin a WebZ session.
At this stage, the user accesses the WebZ logon screen, enters a user id and a password, then clicks the GO! button. In this stage, we examine the HTTP message that is sent to WebZ to get the session started. Several important concepts are introduced at this stage. We examine the HTTP POST method, the WebZ namespace, the importance of the session id, the Authorize verb and its widgets, and more.

Stage 2: WebZ processes the request for the new session.
When WebZ receives the request for the new session, several events take place. For example, a session id is established, a RequestManager object is created to handle the session request, and the user's id and password are authenticated. If the user is authenticated, then WebZ proceeds to build the Home screen in the interface.

Stage 3: WebZ builds the Home screen in the interface.
In this stage, we get our first look at the page preparation process, the process by which WebZ dynamically generates the interface. To build the Home screen, WebZ prepares the homeframe.html file and sends it back to the web browser. In preparing this page, WebZ replaces any HTML entity it finds in homeframe.html with an associated value. Because homeframe.html defines an HTML frameset, it must also prepare the toolbar.html and dblist.html files. The result of all of this is the Home screen displayed in the web browser.

See Also

What is WebZ?
What is the WebZ Interface?
How the WebZ Interface Works