TTAC is hosted on a Windows 2000 server using Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) and a database maintained in Microsoft SQL Server. Display of data on the web pages is controled by Active Server Pages (ASP.Net) code, Javascript, VBscript, XML (using XML spy), and Visual Studio.net. Dreamweaver MX is the main tool for writing T/TAC pages and sites.

Definitions of some of these terms quoted from Whatis.com

ASP.Net

ASP.NET (originally called ASP+) is the next generation of Microsoft's Active Server Page (ASP), a feature of their Internet Information Server (IIS). Both ASP and ASP.NET allow a Web site builder to dynamically build Web pages on the fly by inserting queries to a relational database in the Web page. ASP.NET is different than its predecessor in two major ways: it supports code written in compiled languages such as Visual Basic, C++, C#, and Perl, and it features server controls that can separate the code from the content, allowing WYSIWYG editing of pages. Although ASP.NET is not backwards compatible with ASP, it is able to run side by side with ASP applications. ASP.NET files can be recognized by their .aspx extension.

IIS

IIS (Internet Information Server) is a group of Internet servers (including a Web or Hypertext Transfer Protocol server and a File Transfer Protocol server) with additional capabilities for Microsoft's Windows NT and Windows 2000 Server operating systems. IIS is Microsoft's entry to compete in the Internet server market that is also addressed by Apache, Sun Microsystems, O'Reilly, and others. With IIS, Microsoft includes a set of programs for building and administering Web sites, a search engine, and support for writing Web-based applications that access databases. Microsoft points out that IIS is tightly integrated with the Windows NT and 2000 Servers in a number of ways, resulting in faster Web page serving.

A typical company that buys IIS can create pages for Web sites using Microsoft's Front Page product (with its WYSIWYG user interface). Web developers can use Microsoft's Active Server Page (ASP)technology, which means that applications - including ActiveX controls - can be imbedded in Web pages that modify the content sent back to users. Developers can also write programs that filter requests and get the correct Web pages for different users by using Microsoft's Internet Server Application Program Interface (ISAPI) interface. ASPs and ISAPI programs run more efficiently than common gateway interface (CGI) and server-side include (SSI) programs, two current technologies. (However, there are comparable interfaces on other platforms.)

Microsoft includes special capabilities for server administrators designed to appeal to Internet service providers (ISPs). It includes a single window (or "console") from which all services and users can be administered. It's designed to be easy to add components as snap-ins that you didn't initially install. The administrative windows can be customized for access by individual customers.

Microsoft has been criticized for IIS's susceptibility to computer virus attacks such as Code Red and Nimda.

Javascript

JavaScript is an interpreted programming or script language from Netscape. It is somewhat similar in capability to Microsoft's Visual Basic, Sun's Tcl, the UNIX-derived Perl, and IBM's Rexx. In general, script languages are easier and faster to code in than the more structured and compiled languages such as C and C++. Script languages generally take longer to process than compiled languages, but are very useful for shorter programs.

JavaScript is used in Web site development to do such things as:

• Automatically change a formatted date on a Web page
• Cause a linked-to page to appear in a popup window
• Cause text or a graphic image to change during a mouse rollover

JavaScript uses some of the same ideas found in Java, the compiled object-oriented programming derived from C++. JavaScript code can be imbedded in HTML pages and interpreted by the Web browser (or client). JavaScript can also be run at the server as in Microsoft's Active Server Pages before the page is sent to the requestor. Both Microsoft and Netscape browsers support JavaScript, but sometimes in slightly different ways.

VBscript

VBScript is an interpreted script language from Microsoft that is a subset of its Visual Basic programming language designed for interpretation by Web browsers. VBScript can be compared to other script languages that can be used on the Web, including:

• Netscape's JavaScript
• Sun Microsystem's Tcl
• The UNIX-derived Perl
• IBM's Rexx

In general, script languages are easier and faster to code in than the more structured, compiled languages such as C and C++ and are ideal for smaller programs of limited capability or that can reuse and tie together existing compiled programs.

VBScript is Microsoft's answer to Netscape's popular JavaScript. Both are designed to work with an interpreter that comes with a Web browser - that is, at the user or client end of the Web client/server session. VBScript is designed for use with Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser together with other programming that can be run at the client, including ActiveX controls, automation servers, and Java applets. Although Microsoft does support Netscape's JavaScript (it converts it into its own JScript), Netscape does not support VBScript. For this reason, VBScript is best used for intranet Web sites that use the Internet Explorer browser only.

Visual Studio.net

Visual Studio .NET is Microsoft's visual programming environment for creating Web services based on use of the Extensible Markup Language (XML). The product suite provides a visual interface for identifying a program as a Web service, forms for building a user interface (including support for mobile device interfaces), features for integrating existing application data, and for debugging. Visual Studio .NET comes with the .NET Framework, including the Common Language Runtime, and includes several programming languages including Visual Basic, Visual C++, and Visual C#.

Visual Studio .NET comes in any of three levels of capability and price: Professional, Enterprise Developer (which includes Microsoft's SQL Server), and Enterprise Architect (which includes the Visio product for modeling an application program). In Microsoft's view, Visual Studio .NET aims at setting a benchmark of ease in application development for the Web in the present decade just as its Visual Basic set a benchmark for visual programming in the 1990s. Existing users of Microsoft's Visual line and related languages may upgrade to Visual Studio .NET for a discount from the full price.

Visual Studio .NET is generally comparable to Sun Microsystems' J2EE.

XML

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a flexible way to create common information formats and share both the format and the data on the World Wide Web, intranets, and elsewhere. For example, computer makers might agree on a standard or common way to describe the information about a computer product (processor speed, memory size, and so forth) and then describe the product information format with XML. Such a standard way of describing data would enable a user to send an intelligent agent (a program) to each computer maker's Web site, gather data, and then make a valid comparison. XML can be used by any individual or group of individuals or companies that wants to share information in a consistent way.

XML, a formal recommendation from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), is similar to the language of today's Web pages, the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Both XML and HTML contain markup symbols to describe the contents of a page or file. HTML, however, describes the content of a Web page (mainly text and graphic images) only in terms of how it is to be displayed and interacted with. For example, the letter "p" placed within markup tags starts a new paragraph. XML describes the content in terms of what data is being described. For example, the word "phonenum" placed within markup tags could indicate that the data that followed was a phone number. This means that an XML file can be processed purely as data by a program or it can be stored with similar data on another computer or, like an HTML file, that it can be displayed. For example, depending on how the application in the receiving computer wanted to handle the phone number, it could be stored, displayed, or dialed.

XML is "extensible" because, unlike HTML, the markup symbols are unlimited and self-defining. XML is actually a simpler and easier-to-use subset of the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), the standard for how to create a document structure. It is expected that HTML and XML will be used together in many Web applications. XML markup, for example, may appear within an HTML page.

Early applications of XML include Microsoft's Channel Definition Format (CDF), which describes a channel, a portion of a Web site that has been downloaded to your hard disk and is then is updated periodically as information changes. A specific CDF file contains data that specifies an initial Web page and how frequently it is updated. Another early application is ChartWare, which uses XML as a way to describe medical charts so that they can be shared by doctors. Applications related to banking, e-commerce ordering, personal preference profiles, purchase orders, litigation documents, part lists, and many others are anticipated.