Ficticious E-Commerce Book store based on Flex with XML, PHP, and MySQL

This section contains the documents related to design & development of a Rich Internet Application using Adobe Flex, XML, PHP, and MySQL.

This project was built as part of assignment for the Advanced Internet Development module which provided the following functionality:

• Login: The user is provided with a means to log in and log out of the application.
• Category Selection: The user is provided with a set of categories from which they can choose. Each category has a set of sub-categories and products associated with them. The user is able to easily locate the product they wish to purchase, or view the details of.
• Product Selection: The user is able to locate and view details of a particular product through navigation, and add the product to their shopping cart.
• Search: The user is able to locate and view details of a particular product through search, and add the product to their shopping cart.
• Cart Management: The user is able to manage their shopping cart by deleting items, or changing their selections.
• History Management: The user is able to view their previous orders as a list, with each order selectable such that the user can view further details of the order.
• Checkout: The user is able to place their order by submitting the shopping cart to the server, along with the necessary details for payment.

The following is the architectural description of components for the entire application

• Adobe Flex is used for the client side development of the application.
• An XML language is created to describe the format for data being exchanged between the client and the server. An XML schema is provided for this language.
• All exchanges between the client and the server take place over HTTP using XML documents which are valid according to the schema.
• The server is implemented using PHP 5.
• Data on the server side is persisted to a MySQL 5 database.

Note that security was not considered as requirements during application design.