Corporate Portal

A Corporate Portal is a single gateway to the enterprise – accessed via the corporate Intranet, or via a secure Extranet used by customers, suppliers and business partners, or via the Internet – to the relevant workflows, application systems and databases. It is typically integrated using XML and tailored to the specific job responsibilities of each individual. A Corporate Portal may also be called an Enterprise Portal or an Enterprise Information Portal.

Data Content Analysis™

An Enterprise Application Integration technology, used by Evoke Axio (http://www.evokesoft.com/) to analyze live data content in databases and files for data consistency and quality. It analyzes data values in each row of a table to identify columns that are dependent on the values of other columns in the same row. It normalizes those columns to third normal form (3NF), deriving 3NF database designs and data models from live data content of databases. It then automatically generates 3NF Data Definition Language (DDL) schema scripts for target Data Base Management Systems (DBMS) products.

Drag-and-Relate™

A technology used by sap TopTier (http://www.sapportals.com/) that is based on the use of HyperRelational Analysis to build Enterprise Integration Portals.

EAI

See Enterprise Application Integration

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI)

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) is the process of analyzing the structure and content of databases to identify redundant data that exists within and across enterprises. When a redundant data version is changed, that change must be reflected in all data versions to ensure that all data remains up-to-date. EAI ensures that only one copy of that data exists, shared by all who are authorized to use it. When that data changes, it is immediately available in an up-to-date form for all to use.

Enterprise Information Portal

See Corporate Portal

Enterprise Integration Portal™

An Enterprise Portal interface developed by TopTier Software based on the use of HyperRelational Analysis. This supports drag-and-relate integration so that key values can be dragged by end-users and then dropped onto databases to relate them easily within and across databases and ERP vendors (see http://www.sapportals.com/).

Enterprise Portal

See Corporate Portal

Extensible Linking Language (XLL)

The Extensible Linking Language (XLL) is a part of XML designed to support simple links as well as extended links. Simple links are similar to HTML links, and point to a single target location in the same or a different web page. Extended links point to multiple locations and can also support multi-directional links. For ease of link maintenance, XLL enables links to be saved as files that are separate from the source and target document files and so can be kept up-to-date more readily.

Extensible Markup Language (XML)

The Extensible Markup Language is a recommended W3C standard. It enables metadata tags to be included with data content to indicate data meaning. Metadata tags comprise both start and end tags that surround the data content: as  <customer-name> XYZ Inc </customer-name>. This clearly shows that XYZ Inc is a customer name. 

Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL)

The Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) is based on XML and is a recommended W3C standard. It separates the presentation of data from the data content. XSL is a transformation language that typically is used to translate XML data content to HTML - to be displayed in a browser. A single XSL stylesheet file can be used by many XML documents.

Extensible Stylesheet Language – Transformation (XSLT)

Extensible Stylesheet Language – Transformation (XSLT) is based on XSL. While XSL transforms XML to HTML, XSLT is used to transform data content from one XML format and / or metadata tags to another XML format or tags. This XML transformation is often required for Enterprise Application Integration (EAI).

HTML

See HyperText Markup Language

HyperRelational Analysis™

An Enterprise Application Integration technology, used by SAP TopTier (http://www.sapportals.com/), to analyze the explicit and implicit database structure defined by primary and foreign keys. This supports drag-and-relate technology for use by Enterprise Integration Portals.

HyperText Markup Language (HTML)

HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is a W3C standard. It is used to define web pages to be accessed via the Internet or corporate Intranet. HTML pages are displayed or printed by a browser.

Inter-Enterprise Data Integration (IDI)™

An Enterprise Application Integration technology, used by infoShark (http://www.infoShark.com) to extract the relational database structure of primary/foreign key relationships, indices, constraints, native data types and business rules to convert relational data to and from XML. XMLShark translates relational data in real-time to an XML-based information cache that enables bi-directional exchange of relational data to the Internet, or anywhere in an enterprise.

Metadata

Metadata is terminology or jargon, used as a business language to communicate specific meaning. For example, accountants use a special jargon for accounting, while doctors and hospital staff use a different jargon to communicate medical meaning. This meaning must be understood for effective communication. Metadata tags are used by XML to surround data content and so identify data meaning. 

Metadata Tags

Metadata tags are used to define data meaning for XML. A metadata tag is one word, with no embedded spaces, that starts with a letter or underscore. When surrounded by “<” and “>” characters, it is called a “start tag”. A tag surrounded by “</” and “>” is called an “end tag”.  Each metadata tag must have a start tag and an end tag that surround relevant data content, according to the meaning of that metadata. For example <customer-name> XYZ Inc </customer-name> uses a start tag and an end tag to delimit the customer name “XYZ Inc”.

Normalization

Normalization is the process of moving columns of a data table so that all of the columns that depend on a primary key column are placed in the same table as that primary key. For example, all columns that are wholly dependent on “customer number” primary key in a CUSTOMER table (such as “customer name” and “customer account balance”) are moved into that table with the primary key.

Third Normal Form (3NF)

Third Normal Form (3NF) is produced by the process or Normalization. A data table is said to be in 3NF if all of the columns in that table are wholly dependent on the complete identifying primary key (or keys) of that table, and are dependent on no other keys.

XLink

XLink is a component of XLL that is used to define simple or extended links. These link a source object (word, phrase or image) with a target location in the same or another web page in HTML or XML. XLinks can point to target files of unstructured data (documents, reports, email, images, graphics, audio or video files). XLinks can also point to target files of structured data in databases or legacy files.

XLL

See Extensible Linking Language

XML

See Extensible Markup Language

XPointer

XPointer is a component of XLL. It is used to define a target location in structured or unstructured data files for use by XLL simple or extended links. An XPointer can be a location similar to an HTML anchor point. It can be an absolute location based on a specific data value or ID, or it can be a location relative to a defined origin. An XPointer can select  (highlight) an identified location for use by XLink, such as to embed the selected target data dynamically in the calling source document.

XSL

See Extensible Stylesheet Language

XSLT

See Extensible Stylesheet Language - Transformation