Ben Bartlett
WebDB
    WebDB has a client-server architecture. WebDB itself is the server,
and the clients are the users who log into WebDB to gather
information. WebDB also acts as a client, however, in that it accesses a
database in order to retrieve the information which the user asks for. So,
to be exact, WebDB is a web-based interface between a database and a user.
    The major components of WebDB include the five Perl modules, which
hold many of the procedures which WebDB needs in order to run, as well as
index.cgi, login.cgi, course_search.cgi, person_search.cgi,
registrar_tool.cgi, and timesheet.cgi. Index.cgi gives access to the
various functions of WebDB. Login.cgi is what allows a user to log in as
his or her user name, and thus gain access to certain options unavailable
to the general public. Course_search.cgi allows a user to search through
courses by department, professor, time, term, and year, among other
criteria. Person_search.cgi allows a user to find a list of people, their
mailboxes, and their phone extensions by searching for their first name,
last name, major, or minor. Registrar_tool.cgi allows the registrar to set
up class schedules and the like. Finally, timesheet.cgi allows people who
work to sign in and off on an electronic timesheet.
    I don't use WebDB enough to really want any major changes in it in
terms of its appearance. I do think the code could use quite a bit of
cleaning up. It is rather difficult to read, at best. Some organization,
better documentation and commenting, and some rewriting of code would
really improve things.