The Automated Store – Chart

Update: See the AutomatedStore

In previous posts, I wrote about the creation of an automated store machine in the 1900′s. In the chart below, I have jumped ahead to when the actual machine is first installed. I think this chart can help people get an overview of certain concepts by seeing them in physical form.  I created the rough sketch below with a pencil, but when I get better drawing software I will be able to create a digital version, which will be updated with color and more.
Machine Overview
While initially the main purpose of the machine was so the store owner could track inventory, many new features were added. This picture focuses on customers who which to view the inventory/catalog information themselves.
The customers enter their information by punching holes into a “HTTP” card they are viewing. This card then goes into the Router which cuts it up and sends it to the appropriate controller. For example, if a user asked to views product #43, the router will pass “43″ to the Product Controller’s viewing arm.
The controller will then send this information to the Active Record Player, which will send back the relevant data, as seen in the previous post. In this case, it would send back a copy of product card #43. The controller’s Action View will then take over and combine the data with the relevant templates to create a page. This will involve cutting up the data-card and inserting the information into the correct location on the “view product” catalog page. The page will then be combined with some general headers and some styling layers from the assets box, and then the whole thing will be pressed into a single page and sent back to the customer.