Unlike the Corporate Media Library (CML) application described in Scenario 1 of the BackOffice® Developer's Guide (BDG), Scenario 2 combines two distinct applications. Implementing such a combination means preserving the original functionality of the constituent applications, making them work together as a unit, and deploying them on Fitch & Mather's corporate network for use by employees.
The CML application of Scenario 1 is the first of two applications being combined. The second is called "LitCrit," for Literary Critique. LitCrit is a Microsoft® Exchange Server public folder application for which Microsoft Outlook® is the front end.
As with Scenario 1, F & M application designers followed a systematic approach that included careful study into the technologies available. In this case, their direction of study was influenced by the fact that LitCrit had already been designed and coded to use the technologies of Microsoft Exchange Server. For more details on the use of these technologies, see Proposed Solution.
And just like with Scenario 1, the developers of the combined CML/LitCrit application used (in addition to the resources listed in the Bibliography) the information available on the following Microsoft Web sites:
Note The Planning and Research section of Scenario 1 describes the steps used to prepare for development of the CML application. To understand the CML fully, you should read that section before reading this one.
Every application needs to begin with a clear statement of the business problem, an analysis of resources, and a clear understanding of the requirements the application must fulfill. The following topics discuss the planning process that the Fitch & Mather Corporation followed for the CML/LitCrit application: