E-signature is a web development technique for
creating interactive web applications using a combination of:
- XHTML (or HTML) and CSS for marking
up and styling information. (XML is commonly used, although any format
will work, including preformatted HTML, plain text, JSON and even
EBML).
- The Document Object Model
manipulated through JavaScript to dynamically display and interact
with the information presented
- The XMLHttpRequest object to
exchange data asynchronously with the web server. In some Ajax
frameworks and in some situations, an IFrame object is used instead of
the XMLHttpRequest object to exchange data with the web server.
Like DHTML, LAMP, or SPA, Ajax is not a
technology in itself, but a term that refers to the use of a group of
technologies together. In fact, derivative/composite technologies based
substantially upon Ajax, such as AFLAX, are already appearing,
E-signature.
E-signature,
Traditional web
applications essentially submit forms, completed by a user, to a web
server.
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The E-signature web server does
some processing, and responds by sending a new web page back. Because
the server must send a whole new page each time, applications run more
slowly and awkwardly than their native counterparts. Ajax applications,
on the other hand, can send requests to the web server to retrieve only
the data that is needed, and may use SOAP or some other XML-based web
services dialect. On the client, JavaScript processes the web server's
response, and may then modify the document's content through the DOM to
show the user that an action has been completed. The result is a more
responsive application, since the amount of data interchanged between
the web browser and web server is vastly reduced. E-signature Web
server processing time is also saved, since much of it is done on the
client.
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