ASP.NET 2.0 Website Programming Problem - Design - Solution

6.2. Design

This section looks at how you can provide poll functionality for the site. This polling stores the data (questions, answers, votes, etc.) in the database shared by all modules of this book (although the configuration settings do allow each module to use a separate database, if there's a need to do that). To easily access the DB you'll need tables, stored procedures, a data access layer, and a business layer to keep the presentation layer separate from the DB and the details of its structure. Of course, some sort of user interface will allow administrators to see and manage the data using their favorite browser. We'll start with a list of features we want to implement, and then we'll design the database tables, stored procedures, data and business layers, user interface services, and security that we need for this module.

6.2.1. Features to Implement

Here's the list of features needed in the polls module:

• An access-protected administration console to easily change the current poll and add or remove questions. It should allow multiple polls and their response options to be added, edited, or deleted. The capability to have multiple polls is important because you might want to have different polls in different sections of your site. The administration pages should also show the current statistical results for each poll, and the total number of votes for each poll, as a quick general summary.

• A user control that builds the poll box that can be inserted into any page. The ...