INFO: Updated Readme.txt file for VFP FoxIsapi Sample

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 5.0

SUMMARY

The FoxIsapi sample demonstrates how you can take Visual FoxPro forms and deploy them over the Internet or an intranet.

NOTE: This sample code is provided to show the capabilities and flexibility of Visual FoxPro as an OLE Automation Server. Any modification made to this code will not be supported.

MORE INFORMATION

In the FoxIsapi sample the main class library is named Isapi.vcx. In this library the Employee class inherits the ability to generate HTML code from the base class ISFORM. The ability to generate the HTML code gives you a way to display data or forms in a Web page on the Internet. It also gives you a way to deploy an easy-to-maintain application on four different platforms:

1. Use the following code to run the application from within Visual FoxPro:

   
         SET CLASSLIB TO isapi
         ox = CreateObject("employee")
         ox.show 




2. Use the following code to run the application as an independent executable:

   
         BUILD EXE foxis FROM foxis 

   This creates a Foxis.exe file, which is a Windows program that can be added to the Start menu, started from the Explorer, and so forth.



3. Use the following code to run the application as an OLE Server from any OLE client (Excel, Word, Visual Basic, Visual FoxPro 3.0, and so forth):

   
         ox = CreateObject("foxis.employee")
         ox.show 




4. Use the following code to run the application an Internet Browser, which could be on another machine, such as a 286 running MS-DOS, a UNIX machine, a Macintosh, or a Personal Digital Assistant.

Requirements

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/common/IISArchive.htm.

Q158838 How To Setup the FoxIsapi Sample on Windows NT 4.0

Setup of FoxIsapi

1. Copy Testdata.dbc, Testdata.dct, and Testdata,dcx and all of the associated files (Customer.*, Employee.*, Orders.*, Orditems.*, and Products.*) from the Vfp\Samples\Data directory into the Vfp\Samples\Servers\Foxisapi directory.



2. From the \Vfp\Samples\Servers\Foxisapi folder, open the Foxis project and change the user-defined property "cScriptDir" of the EMPLOYEE form in the class library, Isapi.vcx, to point to the <driveletter>:\Vfp\Samples\Servers\Foxisapi directory.
   
   This is a temporary setting for testing purposes. Later on, you will change it to the Inetsrv\Scripts folder when you have the final build.



3. Build the .exe file with the name Foxis. Once the initial build is complete, change the server option to be "Multi Use" by selecting from the menu "Project/Project Info." Click the Servers tab and change Instancing to Multi Use. Once this is done, build the .exe file again.



4. Test if the OLE Automation Server works by issuing the following commands from the Command window:

   
         ox= CreateObject("foxis.employee")
         ox.show           && see if it works as a custom server
         ?ox.startup()     && see if it returns HTML 

   It is much easier to debug OLE Automation servers from an OLE client (like Visual FoxPro) before instantiating it in Foxisapi.
   
   If the Server worked, you are ready to make the distribution build.



5. Edit the EMPLOYEE form class in Isapi.vcx again and change the cScriptDir property to be the Inetsrv\Scripts directory on the Windows NT server. Be sure to include the drive letter of the actual physical hard drive, not a drive mapping from the workstation.
   
   (If your Internet Server is running on Windows NT 4.0, the path is to <drive>:\Windows\System32\Inetsrv\Scripts, or wherever the \Scripts folder is located.)



6. Create a folder under FoxIsapi called "Final." Rebuild the project one last time, this time pointing the Foxis.exe to the Final folder. You should see three files in this folder:
   
   Foxis.exe
   Foxis.tlb
   Foxis.vbr



7. From the FoxIsapi folder copy the following files into the Final folder:
   
   Testdata.dbc
   Testdata.dct
   Testdata.dcx
   Customer.dbf
   Customer.cdx
   Employee.dbf
   Employee.fpt
   Employee.cdx
   Orders.dbf
   Orders.cdx
   Orditems.dbf
   Orditems.cdx
   Products.dbf
   Products.cdx
   Html.dbf
   Html.cdx
   Html.fpt
   Foxisapi.dll
   *.gif - (These are .gif files containing photos for each employee.)



8. Run the Setup Wizard and point it to the Final folder. Make sure you check the OLE Server check box in Setup Wizard step 2 and select the Foxis.exe in the Final folder. All files should be installed to the Appdir in Setup Wizard step 6.



9. On the Windows NT Server, you need an HTML page that contains a reference to a URL. For example, take the following code and put it in the Wwwroot\default.htm file:

   
         <A HREF="/scripts/foxisapi.dll/FoxIS.employee.startup">
         <I>VFP OLE CUSTOM SERVER DEMO PAGE</I> </A> 




10. In the same HTML file cut and paste the following HTML code:

    
          <FORM ACTION= "/scripts/foxisapi.dll/foxis.employee.cmd">
          <INPUT NAME="Cmd" value = "Reset">
          <input type="submit" value="Dos Command">
          </FORM> 

    This code creates a button on the page that tells the server to execute any MS-DOS command, such as DIR, and it returns a page with the results of the command. If the command is "Reset" (default), then it makes the OLE Automation server release the first instance of the server as well as its own, thus releasing the OLE Automation server completely.
    
    Also add the following HTML code:

    
          <FORM ACTION = "/scripts/foxisapi.dll/foxis.employee.cmd?FOXCMD">
          <INPUT NAME="Cmd"><input type="submit"
          value="Fox Expression"> For example try: "today is "+ cdow(date()) or
          45 * 3 or SYS(2004)
          </FORM> 

    This code creates a button on the page that tells the server to execute any FoxPro command and return a page with the results of the command.
    
    WARNING: A Windows NT Service has no Desktop, so results of any commands or functions that produce user interface objects (UI) such as a MessageBox do not appear on the server machine and the commands hang the server machine if you attempt to execute them. This means you should debug your server applications before deploying them. The sample shows that if an error occurs, you can generate an HTML page to return to the client's browser.



11. Now run the setup program created in step 8 on the Windows NT Server. Install all files to the Inetsvr\Scripts folder. Once setup has completed move the .gif files into the Wwwroot folder.



12. You are now ready to run FoxIS.employee.startup from a browser. From the server machine connect to your NT server's machine name. Your default.htm page should display and if you click the URL jump (hypertext), it should return a page that shows you the data from the Employee table plus a grid-like HTML table on the server.

REFERENCES

For information on debugging Foxisapi.dll and for comments on the design of that program, see the Online Documentation for Visual FoxPro 5.0 by clicking Documentation on the Visual FoxPro Help menu. The Visual FoxPro Online Documentation form normally opens with the Find panel at the left. If not, click Find on the View menu. In the Find combo box enter the string "ISAIP OLE Server Sample" and press Enter.

Scroll down to the subject "Debugging the Server." (This is about half way down the scrollbar.) Here you will see a collection of information about the server's design, and tracing the server in Microsoft Visual C++.

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