Open Source Web Data Management System
I have been working on a personal programming project for a
while that has slowly evolved into what I have begun to call a Web
Data Management System (WDMS). What this essentially means is
a Content Management System focused on building web sites that is
used to create/update, manage and report on data. Except the
project is, well… rather large, so it would expedite the
development if I had some help. I have called the whole
system Eldar Works, a rather grandiose title but hopefully
workable. The intended usage scenario goes something like
this:
A company or organisation wants a centralised online
portal for data management and reporting. They have several
current systems that manage, users/employees, customers,
accounting, etc. and are looking for a system that will allow them
to manage aspects of these systems in a centralised portal.
The way that Eldar Works is designed to fulfil this need is
twofold. First there will be a separate backend server
designed to facilitate the creation of JSON based web services that
encapsulate existing business logic. This backend will be
designed so that those systems that need to be integrated with
Eldar Works, but don't have an existing web service that can be
used, can do so with a minimum of development effort.
Second is the single page web application Content Management
System (please someone find me an abbr. for that) that will allow
web sites to be built from reusable elements using an intuitive
drag and drop interface. This will be built using the YUI3
app framework meaning that is should be possible for any YUI3
module to be easily plugged into the web site. The features
that are intended to be built into the WDMS include:
- Data source management, add and manage multiple data
sources.
- Automated form builder, data sources can be used to
automatically generate forms that will add or update data in the
data source.
- LDAP and OATH authentication, integrate the authentication of
Eldar Works with your external authentication system.
- Online and Offline report generation.
- Full featured Content Management System.
- Data source subscription, subscribe to other peoples data
sources and publish your own data sources.
So if this sounds appealing to you and you would like to help
out the project can be found on
GitHub and I
also intend to post more detail here on each of the modules that
make up Eldar Works.