MiniVend
MiniVend is a full-featured electronic catalog system (commonly
known as a shopping cart) with online ordering capability. It is designed
to provide an interface complete with SSL security and full database
support. It is as powerful as commercial systems costing thousands
of dollars.
MiniVend is freely-redistributable under the GNU General Public License
-- you can download it via FTP.
There is now a
frequently-asked question (FAQ) list
for MiniVend.
If you want to see what can be done with MiniVend, see some of the
sites that use it.
MiniVend 1.03 Features
- Users maintain a "shopping cart" for ordered items
-
SSL support means secure and practical credit card ordering
- Catalogs can be of almost unlimited size with excellent performance
- Powerful search capability including a complete Glimpse interface
and independent field search selection
- Multi-server mode for very high capacity on systems with sufficient memory
- Forked searches for consistent response time in single-server mode
- Cookie support allows browsers to leave catalog and come back without
losing session state
- Full frames support
- Catalog pages automatically selected -- either built "on the fly" from
the database or pre-made for popular items
- Works well with all browsers
- Complete addressable database support with virtually unlimited rows and columns
- Fully-configurable quantity pricing
- ODBC ready
- Back end order entry capability
- Full client-side imagemap support, including frame targets and form submits
- Automatic installation and configuration
- Remote administration via the web using MAT
- Runs under Perl 5 and almost any UNIX
- Designed to be secure, runs with taint checking enabled
- Built-in online help capability
- Central control of buttonbars
- Sales tax calculation, with fully independent non-taxable item and taxed shipping
- Shipping calculation (quantity and/or weight)
- Blank field checking
- Fully configurable order reports
- Much more
Andrew Wilcox wrote
Vend,
the copylefted shopping cart software. MiniVend is based
on Vend V0.2, but enhanced considerably, adding
support for
frames, search capability, remote administration, superfast server
mode, client-side imagemaps, user-customizable help and displays, and more.
This version of Vend includes an automatic configuration and installation
utility, and continues to be free under the GNU copyleft.
Frames, the new windowing technology
Netscape has proposed for HTML 3.0, significantly enhances the
electronic catalog experience, letting the user maintain a
context as they navigate through the catalog.
To learn more about MiniVend, see the
HTML documentation,
visit the offical MiniVend
site, or
download it.