Developing an interface to allow for the manipulation of records already entered is one of the more technically-challenging endeavors of the application as a whole. A little reflection on what is going on in client-server browser-based applications will shed light on the source of the challenge: the application must rely on a relatively limited set of interface elements at the client side to construct an interface from which a set of sql statements can be generated that will affect the change. All of this must be done within the context of the request-response nature of the communication between the client and the server. For example, if I were to use intermediate values to progressively determine menu options, such as limiting the set of displayed event codes to those pertinent to the selected role code (a batter can't make a pitch, after all) each set of selections would require an exchange betweeen the client and the server, because it is on the server that the logic is being executed. There are a number of tools available for minimizing the number of necessary exchanges, employing a variety of strategies. At the most basic level are scripting languages embedded within the browser, and from that point solutions range to proprietary frameworks that require specialized libraries to be downloaded and installed on the local client. The problem with any of these tools is that they require some level of customization at the client, a maintenance issue on its own, and many of these customizations fly in the face of what people are told to implement as internet security measures. I will implement some of these tools at some point, but for now I am going to stick with the current model in which the server generates all of the code that is executed on the client.

As in the previous section, I am going to discuss this process in what is essentially a chronological fashion. In that sense, these sections are a microcosm of the document as a whole, because what I am going to do is create a structure to support the functionality, and then hang thae code that implements that functionality of that structure. Before I get into that, however, there are a couple of housekeeping items I want to touch on that will ease the process, as well as a few changes that were required to the recs_insert.pl that inserts entered records into the database.

Next- Housekeeping, and Modifications to the recs_insert.pl Script
The Editing Framework
Retrieving and Editing the Data
Adding and Deleting Records