Using NTWS in an existing front-end app

[Thys]

Hi,

We have a big system (still in legacy) that I would like to add the NT web server to allow us to "embed" HTML pages with dynamic content.

I was wondering if anyone has done this - especially using the legacy templates?

Thys

[Bruce]

You don't really "add" the Webserver to an existing app Thys, because your existing app is a desktop app, and a WebServer, is, well, a server.
So you'd want to start with a new app, perhaps using your existing dlls if you have them.

Your user will start and stop the desktop app as normal, but the Server runs 24x7 in the background, usually as a Windows Service.

Incidentally ABC is better than Legacy for the Web Server because it has better file handling. Legacy struggles with things like auto-numbering. since it's a new app though it can be based on ABC. Pretty much everythingin it is not ABC or Legacy anyway - it's NetTalk procedure templates.

cheers
Bruce

[Thys]

Thanks Bruce. Yes, a centrally-placed web server is the normal way. But maybe in this case there may be a reason for every workstation to have its own server. The reason is two-fold:

1. Look-and-feel of HTML pages are easier to configure - espcially when you use the NT capabilities.

2. Because the web server is in-process, it can call internal procedures like you would call an update form from a browse. So it could really be an integral part of the system.

It's still early days for this, but I think there is potential to use it this way.

Thys

[Devan]

I am not sure I understand your reasoning here Thys?

The Web Server app itself cannot 'call' procedures in your legacy app from the HTML pages.  You are going to have to add the Web Server procedures etc. INTO your legacy app in order to have the web specific procedures be able to access your legacy procedures.

Also, what you are suggesting is the equivalent of having a normal Clarion app running as distributed EXE files on each workstation rather than shared from a single file sharing location.  Makes ongoing maintenance etc. a lot harder.

I would have thought a single WebServer app running on a single machine and accessible via an IP address would have been easier to manage?

[Bruce]

Hi Thys,

what would you do on a single workstation, via the web interface, which couldn't be done on the same workstation via your windows app?

I'm not sure I fully understand where you're going with this.

Of course, nothing stops you doing this, just add a web server thread to your current program.

cheers
Bruce

[Thys]

Bruce,

One of the reasons why I think it could be useful is because of configurability. Maybe it's easier to configure an HTML page on-the-fly than a window with Clarion. It means that - with the right tools and controls - I can create a dynamic U/I generator within my Win32 app, so no recompiling is needed. In the areas that my systems run, configuration is an important ability to have.

But - as I said, it's early days with this and I would have to do some work to see if it has value.

Thanks for the responses.