Toward Web-based application management systems

As Web technology spreads, the number, variety, and sophistication of Web-b ased information services is literally exploding. While some effort has bee n put into managing a single, centrally controlled Web site, current Web te chnologies offer little help for managing Web-based applications in-the-lar ge. This is partly due to the distributed, heterogeneous, and open nature o f such applications. This paper proposes a generic framework for managing W eb-based applications which addresses both semantic and managerial issues. Semantic issues are addressed through the inclusion of a domain model compo nent in the framework which describes the kinds of information that are ava ilable. Management issues are treated through a framework which includes fo rmally defined notions for an information model, information base consisten cy, transactions, and concurrency control. Thus, the proposed management sy stem provides a semantically robust environment for Web-based information s ervices while allowing for Web source independence.