Generally, there are several different ways to do this

• CGI files are executed each time they are called. Perl is the most popular language for these, but they have to be interpreted each time they are called.
• Web Server dll's are loaded into memory once. Subsequent calls start a new thread and do not load a new instance.
• ASP (Active Server Page) is a Microsoft proprietary method to provide active content using a fully functional programming language. These are generally written in Visual Basic (actually VB Script), or Java Script, and are interpreted.
• IDC/HTX is a Microsoft proprietary method to provide simple database access.

Even though, the supplied help is pretty good, there are a few holes which are covered here.

Each time you compile the server, you must restart PWS

Since the dll remains loaded, you must manually stop PWS in order to try a new version.

If an Action has both a Producer and an OnAction method which contains something like

Response.Content := 'Some String';

the OnAction method will take presidence over the Producer

Pretend directory structure

Each ActionItem has a PathInfo property. as long as the Producer property is blank the PathInfo property can be blank. However, once the Producer property has a value, use a single forward slash (/) if you don't want an explicit pretend directory.

Stop displaying the login dialog box

Set TDatabase.LoginPrompt to false to keep the dialog box from being displayed. If a user and password are required, they can be placed in TDatabase.Params as

USER NAME=xx
PASSWORD=yy

However, these are stored in clear text (ie, security problem).

Set TDatabase.Connected true to provide a connection at design time

Using standard ASP or CGI methods (where files are close to 1 KB), families of related functions are normally implemented as separate files.

However, because the Delphi Web Server dll's have a pretty high overhead each (about 330 KB without database access, 600 KB with), it makes sense to package a family of related functions in a single dll. Using the following syntax

http://www.SomeSite.com/SomeServer.dll/PretendDirectory

If you right click the DataSetTableProducer and select Response Editor..., the dialog box will allow you to add fields and display the expected output. In order to display the table data, set the associated TDatabase.Connected and TTable.Active to true.

There is no simple way to change the column headings - you have to write code to change them.

However, after 5 hours of trying, I still can not get any data to show up in the web page. The headers, footers, and table show up, just no data.

It also appears that setting TTable.Active to true causes PWS to hang - it is no longer possible to stop and re-start the server so that I can copy/test a new dll. All I get are sharing violations and a hung server. Setting TTable.Active to false (and re-booting) fixed that problem.

Response.Content := Response.Content + Format('<tr>%s<td><a href="%s">%s</A></td>%s' + '<td>More Text:%s</td></tr>%s', [NewLine, FieldByName('LinkURL').AsString, FieldByName('LinkName').AsString, NewLine, FieldByName('AnotherField').AsString, NewLine]);

• Building a Web Server Application provides an excellent step by step guide to creating a survey form, a Thank You form, and saving the data using C++ Builder 3. However, this is 80% identical to using Delphi 5 (they both use the same vcl).
• Matlus - The Delphi Apostle has lots of ISAPI tutorials. A very good site.
• Replace ISAPI DLL's without stopping PWS - This uses a wrapper to load and unload your dll's.

URL: http:// cpcug.org / user / clemenzi / technical / Databases / Delphi / WebServers / WebServers.htm