Adding to this Application

In this application, we've merely scratched the surface of what we could achieve with an online classified ad system. There are lots of ways in which you could extend and enhance the application, to provide better functionality. For example, you could:

• Add a Category field to the Item table. This would allow the seller to categorize their items better, and also opens possibilities for different ways of browsing, instead of presenting a one-dimensional list of items.

• Create a bid status window, which the seller could leave open on their desktop. Ideally, this would automatically refresh itself periodically, showing the current highest bids on items they have for sale.

• Add support for richer information about the items – such as pictures, links to other sites, and reviews from buyers.

• Extend the database to support multiple quantities of the same item being sold. For example, suppose you had 10 computers to sell – you could enter your batch of computers as a single item with a quantity of 10, rather than as 10 separate items.

As your web site grows in popularity and generates increasing traffic, you can begin to think about migrating to a Windows 2000 Server platform. This migration will allow you to:

• Upsize the database from Access to SQL Server. With SQL Server, you get the benefits of a true database server, along with the increased performance that it affords.
• Utilize the Collaborative Data Objects (CDO) support on 2000 Server to allow the server to automatically generate e-mail message that can be sent to users of the system.
• Take advantage of the enhanced scalability that comes with employing transactions through COM+, by creating custom components that perform the same application functionality with much greater performance.

In-depth coverage of these subjects is beyond the scope of this book. We'll take a look at some elementary components in the following chapters, and we cover these issues in the titles that you'll find on the back cover of this book.