JBuilder Project Preview: West Edmonton Mall

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Project Preview

WEST EDMONTON MALL
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

COMPANY BACKGROUND
Built in 1981, the West Edmonton Mall (WEM) is the world's largest shopping and entertainment complex, housing 800 stores and services, including retail shopping, amusement attractions, and a 354-room fantasyland theme-room hotel. Covering 5,000,000 square feet and boasting a complete Galaxyland amusement park, a large indoor water park, an ice rink, a submarine lake, a multi-screen theater complex, and a golfing center, among other attractions, the mega-mall was designed from the outset as an entertainment facility for tourists, for shopping, and for families to enjoy themselves.

SITUATION
Based on numerous requests from customers, the Information Systems group at WEM wanted to develop an interactive map so customers could use the Internet to locate individual stores and attractions, and then select the best parking area to minimize walking.

SOLUTION
The group did some pilot work using CGI scripts and GIF file utilities but found the approach unsatisfactory-the scripts were either too slow or they hadn't enough flexibility. Beginning to look at Java more seriously by the fall of 1997, the IS group considered developing a JavaScript solution but discarded that possibility because of speed and performance deficiencies. Finally, West Edmonton Mall chose to use JBuilder to build the entire application in 100% Pure Java, gaining the dual advantages of new JDK 1.1 features and Inprise's award-winning RAD environment and lightning-fast compiler. West Edmonton Mall's IT staff were able to complete several iterations of the Internet MegaMall Mapplet (IMM) and release a public beta after just 300 hours of part-time work.

The IMM is organized in several screen areas. The main Map presents sections of the WEM in large scale, while a second overview floorplan highlights the square being viewed. The Map toggles between WEM's two floors.

A Store window presents tabbed alphabetical and categorical scrolling pick lists. Stores selected from the pick list are copied to a History window and their locations are shown on the map by color-coded stickpins. Stores and attractions can be added to and removed from the History window until the list is complete, whereupon a map showing all the selected store stickpins can be printed. Thirty-two Quick View buttons toggle lamps on the map to show washrooms, ATM machines, mothers' rooms, attractions, and other WEM services in the mall. Direction buttons and zoom controls provide navigation around the map. (IMM screenshot)

Application Screen Shot

The IMM engine is based on a database that the marketing department uses to maintain WEM tenant lists. That database was modified to include coordinates for each store location-x pixels from the left edge and y pixels from the top of the map locates the center of a store. A flat text file of these coordinates is built as part of the JAR file delivered to the client along with the application.

Future IMM enhancements are planned, including a behind-the-firewall intranet version with Quick View lamps for such safety and security features as cameras, alarms, panels, fire hydrants, and other fixtures that police, firefighters, or ambulances might need. WEM management may consider installing thin-client kiosks with a mouse-driven or touch screen interface for customers to access the map while in the mall just as they do at home. Also planned is an automatic routing module to take all the choices from the history window and sequence them for the shortest route.

KEY ADVANTAGES

The IMM allows visitors to create custom shopping trips by selecting the stores and other attractions they plan to visit and printing a map showing the best place to park, the best entrance to use, and the locations of all the stores selected.
The sheer magnitude of the West Edmonton Mall can discourage some shoppers from visiting on a regular basis. By organizing visits to minimize searching time, the IMM will increase the number of mall visitors and maximize the amount time of they spend actually shopping.
Any tenant with its own Web site can create a map URL with their store name embedded. Customers clicking on the link have normal access to the IMM, but the map launches with the host store appearing first on the History list.
An intranet version of the same IMM will highlight security and safety locations-alarms, fire hydrants, security cameras, electrical panels, or other services that police, firefighters, or ambulances might need to access quickly.

TECHNOLOGY and DEVELOPMENT

Tool Used		JBuilder Client/Server
Timeline		About 300 hours of part-time work, on-line beta version delivered August 1998

CUSTOMER COMMENTS
"We're excited, because we get at least a dozen e-mail requests a week for some kind of a map, and now with all the capabilities that JBuilder gives us, we've been able to deliver that and much more-an interactive tool that brings to our customers the overall flavor of the whole West Edmonton Mall entertainment experience."

Joe Schuldhaus, Manager of Information Systems
West Edmonton Mall

PARTNER CONTACT
Visit the West Edmonton Mall's website at www.westedmall.com.