| Appendix A
Glossary of Terms
An Alphabetical Reference of Common Tango and
Internet Terms
action
This is short for Tango action. Tango
Editor has a suite of actions which do many different tasks, including: getting
data from or sending data to a database, invoking external actions (such as
reading and writing files and sending email), and controlling application file
execution. Actions form the basis of an application file in Tango Editor.
ad banner
Tango Web Analyzer
An advertisement on a Web site that functions as a link to the
advertiser's site. The purpose of the ad is to attract a visitor's attention so
the visitor clicks on the ad and goes to the advertiser's site. See also
click-through.
ad views
Tango Web Analyzer
Occurs when an ad banner is downloaded from a Web server and appears
on a Web page. Ad views can be underestimated if the same ad banner appears on
multiple pages of a Web site. The ad banner may only actually be downloaded the
first time it is seen by the visitor, although the visitor may see the ad
multiple times.
Apple Event
Mac OS only: An Apple Event is a high-level
event that conforms to the Apple Event Interprocess Messaging Protocol. The
Apple Event Manager uses the services of the Event Manager to send Apple events
between applications on the same computer, between applications on remote
computers, or from an application to itself. For more information, visit:
http://www.apple.com/
applet
A small Java program that can be embedded in an HTML
page. Applets differ from full-fledged Java applications in that they are not
allowed to access certain resources on the local computer, such as files and
serial devices, and are prohibited from communicating with most other computers
across a network. The current rule is that an applet can only make an Internet
connection to the computer from which the applet was sent.
application
In the software industry, an application generally
means a program for end-users. In Tango, application has specific meanings
depending on the context. See the terms scope, Tango
application and Tango application file.
application file
See Tango application file.
ASCII
American Standard Code for Information
Interchange
This is the de facto world-wide standard for the code numbers
used by computers to represent all the upper- and lower-case Latin letters,
numbers, punctuation, and related data. There are 128 standard ASCII codes each
of which can be represented by a seven-digit binary number.
attribute
In the context of an HTML window, an attribute is
the Results HTML, No Results HTML, or Error HTML. These windows allow you to
enter messages for the various outcomes.
In the context of meta tags, an attribute is a
name/value pair that specifies certain required or optional criteria.
authenticated user
Tango Web Analyzer
In order to access certain Web sites, visitors are required to enter a
login name and password. This information is used to authenticate the
visitor and ensure they are allowed access to the Web site. Authenticated
visitors are often used as a security measure to restrict part or all of a Web
site.
CGI
Common Gateway Interface
A set of rules that describes how a Web server communicates with
another piece of software, often on the same machine, and how the other piece
of software (the "CGI program") talks to the Web server. Any piece of
software can be a CGI program if it handles input and output according to the
CGI standard.
Usually a CGI program is a small program that takes
data from a Web server and does something with it, like putting the content of
a form into an e-mail message, or turning the data into a database query.
You can often see that a CGI program is being used
when "cgi-bin" appears in a URL.
cgi-bin
The most common name of a directory on a Web server
in which CGI programs are stored.
The "bin" part of "cgi-bin" is a
shorthand for "binary", because once upon a time, most programs were
referred to as "binaries". In real life, most programs found in
cgi-bin directories are text files--scripts that are executed by binaries
located elsewhere on the same machine.
class
A category of objects defined by all the common
properties of the different objects that belong to that category.
click-through
Tango Web Analyzer
Occurs when a visitor "clicks" on an ad banner and is
transferred to the advertiser's Web site. Click-throughs are an accurate count
of the number of times visitors left the Web site where the ad banner is
displayed and successfully arrived at the advertiser's Web site.
client
A software program that is used to contact and get
data from a server software program on another computer, often across a network
or the Internet. Each client program is designed to work with one or more
specific kinds of server programs, and each server requires a specific kind of
client. A Web browser is a specific kind of client.
client pull
Tango Web Analyzer
A way to deliver information from a Web server to a Web browser.
Information is requested from the Web browser automatically (for example, an
automatic refresh or script on the client-end), and is sent back to the Web
browser.
COM object
Component Object Model object
Objects that conform to the COM objects specifications developed by Microsoft.
COM objects can run only on the Windows platform. Tango Editor and Tango Server
support the use of COM objects on Windows.
configuration variables
Special values that control aspects of Tango
behavior. System variables affect system wide settings. They apply to all users
of Tango Server.
cookie
The most common meaning of cookie on the
Internet refers to a piece of information sent by a Web server to a Web browser
that the browser software is expected to save and to send back to the Web
server whenever the Web browser makes additional requests from the Web server.
Depending on the type of cookie used and the Web
browser's settings, the Web browser may accept or not accept the cookie, and
may save the cookie for either a short time or a long time.
Cookies might contain login or registration
information, on-line shopping cart information, or user preferences.
When a Web server receives a request from a Web
browser that includes a cookie, the Web server is able to use the information
stored in the cookie. For example, the Web server might customize what is sent
back to the user, or keep a log of particular users' requests.
Cookies are usually set to expire after a
predetermined amount of time and are usually saved in memory until the Web
browser software is closed down, at which time they may be saved to disk if
their expire time has not been reached.
Tango Web Analyzer
By default, Tango Web Analyzer uses cookies as a user identification
method. This results in more accurate visit analysis data, as well as new and
repeat visitor analysis. With cookies, the user is recognized persistently even
if using a different IP address.
data source
An abstraction or description of the database that
Tango Editor and Tango Server are referencing.
data type
In programming, a data type is a classification of
data based on certain characteristics. You normally do not have to be concerned
with data types when you develop Tango application files. However, you
encounter data types when you use objects because object vendors often specify
data requirements for using their object. Tango facilitates the use of COM
objects (Windows-only), JavaBeans, and Tango class files with the same
application file by converting the various data types to Tango data types,
whenever possible.
DCOM object
Distributed COM object
The DCOM environment deploys COM objects on machines other than the
one running Tango Server. Tango supports the DCOM environment on Windows.
document instance
An XML document represented using DOM. Once an XML
document has been converted to a document instance, you can manipulate the
document instance using Tango meta tags.
DOM
Document Object Model
A World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard for the manipulation of
structured data, including XML.
DOM, as the name implies, allows Tango developers to
manipulate the elements of a structured document (for example, XML) as if they
were objects. Developers can build document instances, navigate their
structure, and add, modify, or delete elements and content. DOM creates a
representation of an XML document that is an object tree, and gives you the
tools to create and manipulate the object tree in Tango using Tango variables
and meta tags.
domain name
The unique name that identifies an Internet site.
Domain names always have two or more parts separated by dots. The part on the
left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general. A
given machine may have more than one domain name, but a given domain name
points to only one machine. For example, the domain names
example.com
training.example.com
mail.example.com
can all refer to the same machine, but each domain
name can refer to no more than one machine.
Usually, all of the machines on a given network share
the right-hand portion of their domain names (example.com in the
examples above). It is also possible for a domain name to exist but not be
connected to an actual machine. This is often done so that a group or business
can have an Internet e-mail address without having to establish a real Internet
site. In these cases, some real Internet machine must handle the mail on behalf
of the listed domain name.
Tango Web Analyzer
Tango Web Analyzer uses a visitor's domain name to determine what
organization they belong to. For example, all visitors with
example.com terminating their domain name would be considered members
of the organization example.com. Visitors to a Web site can also be
identified by their domain name. A visitor's domain name shows the name of the
Web server they used to access the Web site. For example, if a visitor uses an
Internet Service Provider (ISP) to access the Internet, the visitor's domain
name is the name of the Web server used by the ISP.
DNS
Domain Name Server
A machine on the Internet that converts ("resolves") domain
names to IP address numbers.
Tango Web Analyzer
The Tango Web Analyzer checks IP addresses against the DNS.
DTD
Document Type Definition
SGML and XML specifications require a DTD, which defines the structure
of the various elements that make up an XML document, and ensures that all
applications that read from and write to it do so in a consistent way. It is,
in effect, the schema of the document.
firewall
A combination of hardware and software that separates
a LAN into two or more parts for security purposes. See also proxy
server.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol
A standard method for transferring files between machines or between a
client machine and a file server on the Internet. FTP allows a client machine
to log in to a server machine to send or retrieve files.
Within a Tango project, you can define an FTP site
and deploy (upload) files defined in your project to another computer while
preserving the hierarchy structure of your project files. You can also download
files from a remote site to replicate a project or share projects with other
developers.
gateway
A hardware or software setup that translates between
two dissimilar protocols. For example, Prodigy has a gateway that translates
between its internal, proprietary e-mail format and Internet e-mail format.
Another meaning of gateway is to describe any mechanism for providing access to
another system, for example, AOL might be called a gateway to the Internet.
geobiz
Tango Web Analyzer
Top-level domains on the Internet, for example, edu
(educational), ca (Canada). "Geobiz" is a Tango Web
Analyzer-specific term. Top-level domains are stored in the GeoBizType
table.
hit
Each time a Web server sends a file to a Web
browser, it is recorded in the Web server log file as a hit. Hits are
generated for every element of a requested page (including graphics, text and
interactive items). If a page containing two graphics is viewed by a user,
three hits are recorded (one for the page itself and one for each graphic).
Hits are often used as a rough measure of load on a
Web server, such as 300,000 hits per month. Because each hit can represent
anything from a request for a tiny document (or even a request for a missing
document) all the way to a request that requires some significant extra
processing (such as a complex search request), the actual load on a machine
from one hit is almost impossible to define.
Tango Web Analyzer
Because page designs vary greatly, hits are a poor guide for traffic
measurement. Tango Web Analyzer measures page views instead of hits.
host
Tango Web Analyzer
Any computer on a network that is a repository for services available
to other computers on the network. It is quite common to have one host machine
provide several services, such as WWW and Usenet (Netnews). An Internet host
can be a single machine connected to the Internet with a unique IP address. The
host name is the first part of the domain name. For example, in
host01.example.com, the host name is host01.
HTML
HyperText Markup Language
The coding language used to create hypertext documents for use on the
World Wide Web. HTML looks a lot like old-fashioned typesetting code, where you
surround a block of text with codes that indicate how it should appear.
Additionally, in HTML you can specify that a block of text, or a word, is
linked to another file on the Internet. HTML files are meant to be viewed using
a World Wide Web client program, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft
Internet Explorer.
HTTP
HyperText Transfer Protocol
The protocol for moving hypertext files across the Internet. Requires
a HTTP client program on one end (Web browser), and an HTTP server (Web server)
program on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used in the World
Wide Web.
HTTP header
Header fields in HTTP requests and responses. A
request header contains information about the request and about the client
itself (such as e-mail address, Web browser type, and platform). A response
header contains information about the Web server and the HTML document returned
to the client. Headers can also contain cookies.
HTTP method
HTTP methods are used by Web browsers to request and
submit information on the World Wide Web (WWW). Web browsers request
information from a Web server when they want to display information (such as
pages). Web browsers can submit information as well. For example, a visitor may
fill out a form on a Web site and submit this information to the Web server.
Common methods include:
- GET, which is used to retrieve a page from
a Web server
- HEAD, which is used to check whether a page
has been changed
- POST, which is used to submit form data.
HTTP request
Sent by a client, typically a Web browser, to a Web
server asking the Web server to retrieve some unit of content (for example,
HTML pages, images, or files).
HTTP response
Sent by a Web server in response to a request by a
client, typically a Web browser. For example, a Web server may return HTML
pages, images, sound files or video files to a client.
HTTP result code
HTTP result codes indicate whether a Web transaction
is successful. Transactions occur whenever visitors request information from a
Web server and the Web server returns this information. For example, a typical
transaction occurs when a visitor clicks on a link to access a Web page and the
Web server returns that page to the visitor.
Every transaction has a result code. If the
transaction is successful, the visitor never sees the result code. If there is
an error, the visitor may see the result code, however. A common result code
seen by visitors is "404 Page Not Found". HTTP success codes begin
with 2 or 3, and error codes begin with 4 or 5.
intelligent agents
Tango Web Analyzer
Also called personal robots, these are programs that gather
information or perform some other service without the presence of a user and on
a regular schedule. An agent program searches all or some part of the Internet
and gathers information based on the parameters provided by a user, and
presents this information to the user on a daily or other periodic basis. An
example of an agent is URL-Minder, which notifies a user when specified Web
pages have changed.
intranet
A private network inside a company or organization
that uses the same kinds of software that you would find on the public
Internet, but that is only for internal use.
As the Internet has become more popular many of the
tools used on the Internet are being used in private networks, for example,
many companies have Web servers that are available only to employees.
IP address
Internet Protocol Address
A unique number consisting of four parts separated by dots, such as
207.107.95.106. Each of the four sections is a number from 0 to 255.
Every system connected to the Internet has a unique IP address. Most people use
domain names in addition to IP addresses, and the resolution between domain
names and IP addresses is handled by Domain Name Servers.
It is difficult to use IP addresses to accurately
identify visitors. IP addresses are reused and redistributed to visitors who
use Internet Server Providers and dial-up servers to access the Internet. This
is called dynamic IP addressing. However, visitors can be recognized
persistently with cookies even if they use different IP addresses. For this
reason, Tango Web Analyzer can use cookies instead of IP addresses to track
visitors.
ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network
A way to move more data over existing regular phone lines. It can
provide speeds of roughly 128,000 bits per second over regular phone lines. In
practice, most people will be limited to 56,000 or 64,000 bits per second.
Java
Java is a network-oriented programming language
invented by Sun Microsystems that is specifically designed for writing programs
that can be safely downloaded to your computer through the Internet and
immediately run without fear of viruses or other harm to your computer or
files. Using small Java programs (called applets), Web pages can
include functions such as animations, calculators, and other fancy tricks.
JavaBean
A component technology for Java that lets developers
create reusable software objects. These objects can be shared. A database
vendor can create a Java bean to support its software, and other developers can
easily drop the bean into their own projects. You can incorporate JavaBeans in
Tango application files on all platforms.
Java class
In Java, a type that defines the implementation of a
particular kind of object. A class definition defines instance and class
variables and methods, as well as specifying the interfaces the class
implements and the immediate superclass of the class. If the superclass is not
explicitly specified, the superclass will implicitly be Object.
link
Any text on a Web site that can be chosen by a
visitor and which causes another document to be retrieved and displayed. Also
known as a "hot link" or "hypertext link".
Linux
A freely-distributed implementation of UNIX that
runs on a number of hardware platforms.
load-splitting
Windows- and Unix-only: Splitting a Web
site amongst two or more Tango servers in order to improve processing speed and
performance as the site's size and traffic volume increase.
Tango is scalable; it allows you to do
load-splitting without having to alter your Tango application files. As your
Web site grows, you do not have to go through another cycle of development and
testing of your applications every time you add a Tango Server.
meta tag
The basic component of a tag language unique to
Tango Server. Meta tags communicate with Tango Server in the same way that HTML
communicates with a Web server.
method
The interface of an object consists of one or more
methods. A method allows you to tell the object to input data, get data, or
carry out any other action.
MIME
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
A standard for attaching non-text files to standard Internet mail
messages. Non-text files include graphics, spreadsheets, formatted
word-processor documents, sound files, and most other files.
An e-mail program is said to be MIME Compliant if it
can both send and receive files using the MIME standard.
Generally speaking, the MIME standard is a way of
specifying both the type of file being sent (for example, a Quicktime video
file), and the method that should be used to turn it back into its original
form.
Besides e-mail software, the MIME standard is also
universally used by Web Servers to identify the files they are sending to Web
clients. In this way, new file formats can be accommodated simply by updating
the Web browsers' list of pairs of MIME-types and appropriate software for
handling each type.
object
A reusable software component. Tango supports the
use of objects in Tango application files. The use of objects can simplify the
development process and reduce development time.
Tango supports different object types:
- COM objects (Windows-only)
- JavaBeans
- Tango class files.
object instance
When Tango Server executes a Call Method action in a
Tango application file, it creates an object instance (or simply,
instance) for a class--such as a COM object--as soon as it encounters a Call
Method action associated with that class.
ODBC
Open Database Connectivity
A standard set by Microsoft that allows applications to communicate
with a variety of databases from different vendors. An ODBC client application
talks to the ODBC driver manager, which in turn talks to a database driver for
a specific type of database.
page view
Tango Web Analyzer
When a visitor accesses a page on a Web site, such as the home page,
this is called a page view. Although the page may consist of multiple
elements, such as graphics, text and multimedia files, the visitor sees the
files as a single page on the screen.
Page views can have external, internal or empty
referers.
- A page view results from an external
referer when a visitor uses a link outside of the Web site to arrive at
the page. External links include links from search engines, links on other Web
sites or ad banners on other Web sites.
- A page view results from an internal
referer when a visitor uses a link inside the Web site to arrive at the
page. For example, the visitor could click on a link on the home page to go to
another page on the Web site.
- A page view results from an empty referer
when a visitor doesn't use a link to arrive at the page. Instead, the visitor
may use a bookmark or type the page's URL directly into their Web browser.
parameter
The basic data elements of a method. A parameter
defines what the object takes as input, output, or both. Each method consists
of one or more parameters.
path argument
Tango Web Analyzer
A path argument is the part of a URL used when a CGI or some other
program is requested by a Web browser. The path argument is the actual path to
the document being executed.
For example, in this URL
http://www.example.com/cgi-bin/Tango.exe/taf_folder/mytaf.taf
the path argument is /taf_folder/mytaf.taf.
Pervasive.SQL
A high-performance, multi-platform database
management system included in your Tango 2000 package. Pervasive.SQL provides
connections to Pervasive.SQL data sources using Pervasive's high-performance,
native ODBC interface.
plug-in
A (usually small) piece of software that adds
features to a larger piece of software. A common example of a plug-in is for
the Netscape Navigator Web browser and Web server. The idea behind plug-ins is
that a small piece of software is loaded into memory by the larger program,
adding a new feature, and that users need only install the few plug-ins that
they need, out of a much larger pool of possibilities. Plug-ins are usually
created by people other than the publishers of the software the plug-in works
with.
port
In TCP/IP and networks, it is an endpoint to a
logical connection. The port number identifies what type of port it is. For
example, port 80 is generally used for HTTP traffic.
production Web server
Tango Web Analyzer
This is the Web server you want to monitor using Tango Web Analyzer.
It is installed on the Web Server machine. This term is used to distinguish the
Web server you want to monitor from the Web server required on the Tango Web
Server machine. Production Web server is a Tango Web Analyzer-specific term.
proxy server
A server that sits between a client application,
such as a Web browser and a real server. It intercepts all requests to the real
server to see if it can fulfill the request itself. If not, it forwards the
request to the real server. Tango 2000 allows you to route files through a TIS
(Trusted Information Server) proxy server. See also firewall.
referer
Tango Web Analyzer
A referer is the URL a visitor used to arrive at the Web site
monitored by Tango Web Analyzer. A referer is usually a link on a Web site. You
can think of a referer as the way a visitor is "referred to" or
"directed to" a Web site.
Referers can be external, internal or empty.
- External referers are external links used
to arrive at a Web site. External referers include links from search engines,
links on other Web sites or ad banners on other Web sites.
- Internal referers are links within a Web
site that are used to go to other parts of the site. For example, a link on a
Web site's home page could take a visitor to another part of the site.
- Empty referers are ways to access a Web
site directly, such as using a bookmark or typing the site's URL directly into
a Web browser.
scope
In Tango, a scope refers to a characteristic of
variables that determines where they are valid. The following scopes are
available for variables in Tango application files and Tango class files:
local, user, cookie, application, domain, system, and custom. In addition, the
following scopes are available for variables in Tango class files only: method
and instance. See Chapter 8 for details.
search argument
A search argument is the part of a URL used when a
set of arguments are sent to an executing program, such as a CGI, or Web
server. Search arguments are commonly used for forms and searches. The search
argument follows a question mark (?) in the URL and can be used to
track dynamic content or CGI variables being passed between client and server.
For example, in this URL:
http://www.example.com/test.taf?function=form
the search argument is function=form.
security certificate
Information (often stored as a text file) that is
used by the SSL protocol to establish a secure connection.
Security certificates contain information about who
it belongs to, who it was issued by, a unique serial number or other unique
identification, valid dates, and an encrypted fingerprint that can be used to
verify the contents of the certificate.
For an SSL connection to be created, both sides must
have a valid Security Certificate.
server
A computer, or a software package, that provides a
specific kind of service to client software running on other computers. The
term can refer to a particular piece of software, such as a Web server, or to
the machine on which the software is running. A single server machine could
have several different server software packages running on it, thus providing
many different servers to clients on the network.
server push
A way to deliver information from a Web server to a
Web browser. The information is sent to the Web browser without a client
request; for example, a site that automatically updates a Web browser with the
latest news.
Server Watcher
A watching process that works with Windows- and
UNIX-based Tango Servers to ensure that Tango is always running. While Tango
attempts to recover from a fatal error automatically, it does not always
succeed for various reasons. When this happens, the watching process provides a
simple and robust external process to relaunch Tango automatically.
SGML
Standard Generalized Markup Language
An ISO standard for organizing and tagging elements (for example,
titles, sections, and paragraphs) of a document. SGML specifies the rules for
tagging elements, but not the formatting of documents. These tags can then be
interpreted to format elements in different ways.
SGML is useful for managing large documents that are
subject to frequent revisions and that need to be printed in different formats.
SMTP
Simple Mail Transport Protocol
The main protocol used to send mail on the Internet. SMTP consists of
a set of rules for how a program sending mail and a program receiving mail
should interact.
Almost all Internet mail is sent and received by
clients and servers using SMTP, thus if one wanted to set up an e-mail server
on the Internet one would look for e-mail server software that supports SMTP.
Solaris
A UNIX-based operating system developed by Sun
Microsystems. Originally developed to run on Sun's SPARC workstations, Solaris
now runs on many workstations from other vendors.
SQL
Structured Query Language
A unified language for defining, querying, modifying and controlling
the data in a relational database. Most industrial-strength relational
databases and many smaller database applications are addressed using SQL. Each
specific application has its own version of SQL implementing features unique to
that application, but all SQL-capable databases support a common subset of SQL.
Tango Web Analyzer
You can use SQL to create custom reports that use the Tango Web
Analyzer database.
SSL
Secure Sockets Layer
A protocol designed by Netscape to enable encrypted, authenticated
communications across the Internet.
SSL is used mostly (but not exclusively) in
communications between Web browsers and Web servers. URLs that begin with
"https" indicate that an SSL connection will be used.
SSL provides three important features: privacy,
authentication, and message integrity.
In an SSL connection each side of the connection must
have a Security Certificate, which each side's software sends to the other.
Each side then encrypts what it sends using information from both its own and
the other side's Certificate, ensuring that only the intended recipient can
decrypt it, and that the other side can be sure the data came from the place it
claims to have come from, and that the message has not been tampered with.
Tango application
A group of Tango application files in a particular
application folder that can share variables in an application scope.
Tango application file
Tango application files are written using Tango
Editor and are composed of one or a series of actions that are executed by
Tango Server. Each action's reaction or response from a database, server,
external program, and so on, can be posted in HTML. When a Tango application
file is completed, the results are returned to the client. Tango application
files are sometimes called application files. They generally have a .taf
file extension.
Tango CGI
The CGI that links Tango Server and your Web server.
Not necessary if you use one of the Web server plug-ins.
Tango class file
Reusable software components that you can
incorporate in Tango application files. You can create and edit Tango class
files using Tango Editor. Tango class files generally have a .tcf file
extension.
Tango Server
Executes and serves up the application files by
which clients can interact with HTML pages to perform a variety of tasks; for
example, querying the data source.
TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol
This is the suite of protocols that defines the Internet. Originally
designed for the UNIX operating system, TCP/IP software is now available for
every major kind of computer operating system. To be truly on the Internet,
your computer must have TCP/IP software.
Unix
A computer operating system (the basic software
running on a computer, underneath programs such as word processors and
spreadsheets). Unix is designed to be used by many people at the same time (it
is multi-user) and has TCP/IP built-in. It is the most common operating system
for servers on the Internet.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator
The "address system" used by the World Wide Web (WWW). A URL
is the address of a piece of information stored on a Web server. This
information can include HTML pages, graphics, multimedia files, Java classes,
downloadable files or any other type of file you have stored.
For example, this URL:
http://www.example.com/path/subdir/file.htm
specifies the resource file.htm located on
the server www.example.com.
virtual hosting
With virtual hosting, one physical host is actually
many virtual hosts. With hardware virtual hosting, a single machine can act
like multiple machines (with multiple domain names and IP addresses). With
software virtual hosting, a single machine can act as multiple servers, but
only use one IP address.
visit
Tango Web Analyzer
A visit is the set of pages viewed at a Web site. A visit
ends when the visitor is not active (that is, they do not access any more
pages) for a certain amount of time, known as the visit time-out period. By
default, Tango Web Analyzer defines a visit as ending after 30 minutes of
inactivity. The visit time-out period can be configured in the Tango Web
Analyzer.
visitor
Tango Web Analyzer
An individual who visits a Web site and can be uniquely identified. To
identify visitors, Web servers can use IP addresses, HTTP cookies, or an
authenticated user value. Tango Web Analyzer uses cookies for visitor
identification. The terms client and visitor are used
interchangeably in this guide.
Web browser
A software program that can request, load and
display documents available on the World Wide Web. Web browsers are typically
operated by people, but can also be run by robots, such as Web crawlers and
intelligent agents.
Tango Web Analyzer
Pages retrieved with these robots can artificially inflate the page
view count. By default, Tango Web Analyzer filters activity from automated Web
browsers in order to count only activity from Web browsers where it is assumed
that a person is actually operating the Web browser and viewing the pages. This
results in more accurate visitor information.
Web crawlers
Tango Web Analyzer
Also called Web spiders, these are a type of robot software that
explore the World Wide Web by retrieving a document and following all the
hyperlinks in it. Web sites tend to be so well linked that a Web crawler can
cover vast amounts of the Internet by starting from just a few sites. After
following the links, Web crawlers generate catalogs that can be accessed by
search engines. Many search sites use this method to build databases of sites.
Web server
A computer that stores the files comprising a Web
site. It sends information to, and accepts information from, Web browsers.
Tango Web Analyzer
A Web server that Tango Web Analyzer monitors is called a
production Web server. Tango Web Analyzer can monitor more than one
production Web server.
Web Server machine
Tango Web Analyzer
In Tango Web Analyzer terminology, a Web Server machine is
the physical machine where the Web server you want to monitor is located. The
Web server that you want to monitor is called a production Web server.
Web site
The collection of elements (such as HTML files,
images, video or audio files) the comprise an entity on the Internet. A Web
site is equivalent to a Web domain. It is identified by its domain name, for
example www.example.com. One or more Web sites can run on a physical
machine under one Web server process.
Web transaction
Tango Web Analyzer
When a visitor tries to access information on a Web site, a
transaction between the visitor and the Web server occurs. The visitor requests
information (usually by clicking on a link) and the Web server returns this
information to them. Every transaction has an HTTP result code which indicates
whether the transaction was successful and what action was taken.
XML
Extensible Markup Language
XML is a text-based and widely-endorsed standard markup language,
similar to HTML, but much more flexible and robust. It is a subset of SGML. Its
goal is to enable generic SGML (that is, structured documents) to be served,
received, and processed on the Web in the way that is now possible with HTML.
XML has been designed for ease of implementation and for interoperability with
both SGML and HTML.
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