6. Conclusion

A considerable volume of information is now consulted via the Internet and Intranet. These consultations are based on the HTTP protocol and the HTML format, which limit the complexity of the workstation while providing satisfactory ergonomics for consultation activities. This model and these standards therefore satisfactorily cover the needs of so-called "informational" computing.

Furthermore, the needs of so-called "transactional" computing are not fully met by HTTP and HTML standards, which do not provide the integrity functions required for such processing. Two options are currently competing to cover this area. The first is to couple HTTP techniques with the classic transactional techniques provided by DBMS or classic transactional monitors; this option is relatively simple, but as the programming interfaces are not standardized, there is a risk of reverting...