Macromedia Flash
Choosing
a User Interface Technology for Rich Internet Applications
When
considering the features and benefits that Web-based
composite applications should deliver to the enterprise,
developers must consider interface technologies and
design approaches that provide:
- Optimal
performance in an enterprise environment
- Optimal
end-user workflow by delivering rich functionality
- Ease
of maintenance
- Cross-platform
compatibility
- Thin-client
application
Considering the plethora of options available, the Internet community has primarily settled on a small number of solutions. Although HTML is used as the primary delivery mechanism for almost all Internet sites, it does not offer the best capability of delivering a Rich Internet Application (RIA). Its limitiation is that it was oringally designed to be a framework for describing documents and text.
The demands of today dictate powerful,
dynamic and efficient workflow based environments that
mimic a Windows look and feel, but offer the simplicity
and ease of deployment that comes with thin-client based
applications. That leaves only a handful of technology
solutions to the developmment community. The three leading
contenders are Java, Microsoft's ActiveX and Macromedia's
Flash.
Java, typically used to develop thick-client user interfaces, is notoriously brittle and requires ample administration to maintain. In addition, despite it's intent to be cross-platform capable, it has inherent constraints in deployment capabilities depending upon the target operating systems.
ActiveX ties
the deployment to specific versions on the Windows operating
system and excludes users from using other opertaing
systems such as those from Apple or Sun MircoSystems.
Eliminating HTML, Java and ActiveX leaves one real contender to the RIA environment - Flash. Built using Macromedia's Flash MX 2004 product, RIA's can be portable, highly efficent and yet yield the same experience and provide for the same workflow as any thick-client desktop application. Flash offers many advantages as a user interface technology
for developing business-class, composite applications.
These
include:
- Broad
platform compatibility (Windows, Macintosh, Linux,
PDAs, etc.)
- A dominant
install base, reflecting usage in 98% of the
world's Web browsers, ensuring compatibility with
existing systems and ease of maintenance
- Operability
across low-bandwidth dial-up or broadband connections
without compromising the user experience
- The
combined benefits of a rich user experience and the
convenience of a truly portable thin client
In
addition, Flash offers performance advantages when
combined with other Macromedia products such as JRun
and Flash Remoting in a server-based architecture.
For
example, the combination of MITEM's legacy integration
platform with the JRun server, Flash Remoting, and the
Flash user interface can be deployed in a mission critical
environment to present users with data from multiple
back-end systems.
MITEM's
Event-Driven Integration Platform and Flash Optimize Performance and the User Experience
A
MITEM integration server communicates asynchronously
with back-end systems, enabling the transaction of multiple
data sets while simultaneously allowing the user interactive
control with the client application.
When
combined in a product architecture with MITEM's integration
platform, Flash is a highly complementary technology
owing to its ability to communicate asynchronously between
the client and the back-end systems. Flash allows this architecture to conduct multiple transactions
between the user and the server without a blocking form
interaction. For example, a user might initiate a client's
request for an update while simultaneously interacting
with other portions of the application as that request
is processed on the back-end.
Conversely, with HTML pages, when a users sends
a request from a browser to the Web server, the server
must complete the transaction before returning the result
to the browser. This makes Web-based enterprise applications
that integrate with multiple disparate back-end systems
seem sluggish even when operating on a broadband Internet
connection. Combining a Flash-based user interface and
MITEM's integration platform lets composite applications
operate in an entirely asynchronous mode, enabling a
massive performance gain and significantly improving
the user experience.
Example:
Blue Iris Delivers Desktop Richness of Functionality
in a Web-Based Application
Blue
Iris enhances, extends and integrates existing hospital
information systems. Acting as a real-time, read/write
portal for physicians, Blue Iris pulls from back end
systems critical patient data such as lab results, medications,
images, and dictated voice recordings and delivers them
directly to the desktop or to any mobile computing device.
Blue Iris presents all of this critical data in a single-view,
Web-based application that mirrors the natural workflow
of clinicians.
The
Blue Iris client, built with Flash MX 2004, provides a rich,
dynamic user environment that enables such features
as context-sensitive pop-up windows that can be dragged
around the screen to interact with the whole application,
affording functionality now expected by users familiar
with Windows and Macintosh environments. The interactive
features of Flash make the Blue Iris user interface
more responsive to the user. Collapsible headers and
dynamically-inserted information are among the features
that can be presented in a more efficient and intuitive
way.
For
a live demonstration of the Blue Iris user interface
please sign-up for a forthcoming web seminar by visiting
http://www.blueiris.md.
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