Sunday, April 15, 2007
Your own zero-configuration web server
One month ago, a customer who's using a client/server application I've created for his office asked me if it's possible to make a simple web form where customers can add orders to his system using a web browser. Of course it's possible, one way is to contract with a web hosting provider and upload some CGI or PHP programs, another way is by installing a web server like Apache or IIS into his office and connect it to Internet, but both methods involves some degree of configuration.
A third method is the creation of a stand alone web/application server installed on one of his computers just like any other program, without any configuration. I suggested him to use IntraWeb or WebBroker, and the system was developed using IntraWeb.
After that small requirement I'd keep dreaming of a very small, fast and multiplatform (Win32/Linux/Bsd) stand alone web server and endded up with a working version of the project.
A first usable version of the server can be downloaded from here. It's based on the HttpServ example of Synapse, It's multithreaded, 100% Object Pascal and compiles without modifications with Delphi and FreePascal.
Looking for voluntieers
I know this can be the starting point of a very interesting project, and I'll be very happy to find some enthusiasts who can contribute with code and Ideas, so if you are one of them feel free to contact me.
A third method is the creation of a stand alone web/application server installed on one of his computers just like any other program, without any configuration. I suggested him to use IntraWeb or WebBroker, and the system was developed using IntraWeb.
After that small requirement I'd keep dreaming of a very small, fast and multiplatform (Win32/Linux/Bsd) stand alone web server and endded up with a working version of the project.
A first usable version of the server can be downloaded from here. It's based on the HttpServ example of Synapse, It's multithreaded, 100% Object Pascal and compiles without modifications with Delphi and FreePascal.
Looking for voluntieers
I know this can be the starting point of a very interesting project, and I'll be very happy to find some enthusiasts who can contribute with code and Ideas, so if you are one of them feel free to contact me.
