If you need to preserve multiple database permission levels, you can map particular Web users to specific database users from within Studio. The NAS Administration Tool also lets you cache database connections for faster performance, but the development tools don't automate the process of mapping Web users to database login IDs. Tracking User State One of the trickiest issues in building Web applications is managing user session information. Because of the stateless nature of HTTP, tracking individual users throughout the course of an application is difficult, and yet it is essential for things such as site authentication and maintaining shopping-cart information. Traditionally session state is handled at the most basic level through use of an identifier, usually an HTTP cookie or HTML hidden field, that lets an application map a particular Web request to a specific user.
Developers map that identifier to a set of application-specific data, usually stored in a database.
Both NetDynamics and NAB make it easier to store and retrieve session data without requiring developers to access cookie or hidden-field information manually. Both products let you store and retrieve information about individual users programmatically by referencing special objects that contain data about that user. These mechanisms make it a lot easier to track users as they navigate through the various pages in the application. 1999 ZD Inc. All rights reserved.