About Web Broker
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Part of the function of any application is to make data accessible to the user. In a standard application, you accomplish this by creating traditional front end elements, like dialogs and scrolling windows. Developers can specify the exact layout of these objects using familiar form design tools. Web server applications must be designed differently, however. All information passed to users must be in the form of HTML pages which are transferred through HTTP. Pages are generally interpreted on the client machine by a Web browser application, which displays the pages in a form appropriate for the user's particular system in its present state.
The first step in building a Web server application is choosing the architecture you want to use. Web Broker provides many features, including:
- Support for CGI and Apache DSO Web server application types. These are described in Types of Web Server Applications.
- Multithreading support so that incoming client requests are handled on separate threads.
- Caching of Web modules for quicker responses.
- Supporting the Linux platform
Web Broker components handle all mechanics of page transfer, although Web Broker does not have a scripting capability. The major features of the Web Broker approach are outlined below:
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Backward compatible. |
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One Web module allowed in an application. |
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One Web dispatcher allowed in the application. |
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No scripting support. |
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No built-in support for named pages. |
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No session support. |
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Every request must be explicitly handled, using either an action item or an auto-dispatching component. |
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Some specialized components provide previews of the content they produce. Most development is not visual. |
For more information on Web Broker, see Using Web Broker.