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The page object tracks the properties of each web object in the system. Objects that don’t
get hits effectively don’t exist. Page objects get created on the first hit. The
FirstClickTime is the time the current revision of the page object is used. The stats object
gets updated regularly, while page object attributes will also be updated occasionally,
signaling that content has been revised. In this case, a new page object is created with the
same URL, a new FirstClickTime, the new revision, along with the updated attributes are
also captured. This will allow queries across the same URL after content changes, and
still retain a history of the URL attribute changes mapped against the activity.
The Stats class object is a generic object class reserved for saving statistics over time.
Specific stats are aggregated over a time slice based on time granularity settings.
Aggregation can occur hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or as a single total. Finer
granularity intervals can be set but take up considerably more disk space while providing a
more precise scan of the trends in activity.
The Queries classes are used in conjunction with the Graphs and Reports classes for ad
hoc querying of the stored data.
Aria.reporter
The Aria.reporter creates an intuitive graphical user interface and solves two very difficult
problems inherent to the Web. The first problem derives from the roots of the Web’s
client/server architecture. The mechanism of communication between the browser and the
web server is a series of request and response message passing. This back and forth
message passing is stateless -- the reality of a browser session, having a beginning and an
end, does not exist. Unfortunately, much of the site activity information that is relevant to
Aria users requires a website visitor having a session (visit) that begins and ends. The
Aria.reporter handles this problem of stasis by allowing a system configurable setting that
creates virtual state, through the implementation of a visitor timeout. What this means is a
new visit session begins when a browser arrives at the site (which can be detected),
continues while the browser is active in the site, and ends when a new visit starts. All the
important information that webmasters, marketing/sales personnel and customers need to
analyze the web site fall out of the introduction to this concept of state.
The second problem is one of visualization of data. How does one visualize information
about website visits, paths taken, browsers used etc.. Other companies engaged in the
web tracking market have resorted to the most practical route by presenting the data in
tabular form.
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The Aria Architecture Page 21 Andromedia, Inc.
White Paper July 1996