MicroWeb User Manual


CONTENTS

About This Program
Installation
System Requirements
Using MicroWeb
Release History
Contacting the Author
License Agreement


About This Program

The MicroWeb program allows you to create a working web site on a CD-ROM. Using a web browser, a user can can run cgi programs as well as view html files on the cd-rom.

To view the website the end user only has to run the microweb.exe program on the cd-rom, there is nothing to configure. This will automatically start a web browser for viewing the website.


Installation

Unzip the installation file to any directory, for example c:\microweb. This will create a working website. To view the website run the program microweb.exe. This will start the MicroWeb server and start a web browser for viewing the web site.


System Requirements

Windows 95, or Windows NT. Any web browser. The TCP/IP protocol musbe installed.


Using MicroWeb

The sample website

The installation zip file for MicroWeb will create a sample website. To view the sample website run the microweb.exe program. This will automatically start a web browser for viewing the website. The site contains some sample html pages and forms and some sample cgi scripts.

File or directory Description
c:\microweb\index.html Home page for the sample website
c:\microweb\testform.html Sample form for starting cgi scripts
c:\microweb\cgi-bin\ Directory for cgi programs and scripts
c:\microweb\cgi-bin\testcgi.pl Sample cgi script in Perl
c:\microweb\cgi-bin\testcgi.exe Sample cgi program
c:\microweb\SvrAdmin Directory containing images for directory listings
c:\microweb\perl\ Directory containing the Perl interpreter
c:\microweb\microweb.ini The MicroWeb ini file

 

The microweb.ini files

The microweb.ini file contains the following entries

[OPTIONS]
; modify this entry to change the default host name
hostName=microweb
; modify this entry to change the default perl directory
perlDirectory=perl

How to create a website for shipping on cd-rom.
Copy the sample website, and add your own html and cgi files. Modify the microweb.ini file if necessary. The sample website contains an autorun.inf which will automatically start the website when the cd is inserted into a drive.

Copy mfc42.dll from your system directory to the microweb directory.  This is only needed if MicroWeb will be run on a Win95 system which does not have IE installed.

You must also run MicroWeb on your own PC (i.e. the PC where MicroWeb program is registered) anytime that the default html page for your website is modified. This allows MicroWeb to add or modify an entry in the microweb.ini file. Without this entry, runing the website on a non-registered PC will display a message saying "This is an evaluation version..."

Default document directory.
When MicroWeb is started the current directory becomes the document root for the web site.

Default web browser.
When MicroWeb is started the default web browser is also started. To select a non default browser use one of the following command line options: -browser=netscape , -browser=ie or -browser=none

If no web server is selected, the only way to shut down MicroWeb is to press ctrl-alt-del and click on 'End Task' from the Task Manager menu.  You will get a warning that the program is not responding, this warning can be ignored.

You can also explicitly specify the browser to use by adding the following line to the ini file:
browserpath=<path_to_browser>

Default web page.
The default page is displayed when the request URL contains a directory path, but no specific page. MicroWeb will look for default.pl, default.exe, default.html, default.htm, index.html, index.htm,  and send the result to the web browser. If none of the above are found, then it will display a listing of the files in the directory.

Changing the host name of your web site.
The ini file entry "hostName" is used to set the host name of your web site. The default value is microweb. You can use any name, for example www.myserver.com, or even www.microsoft.com. Be aware, however, that if you use the name of a real host, you will no longer be able to access the real host until you shut down MicroWeb by closing the web browser and rebooting the PC. This is because the web browser caches the IP address of the host until the PC is rebooted, or a long idle time has elapsed.

Using the name of a real host is also not recommended on PC's using a proxy server, as proxy service for the selected server will be disabled. This limitation will be removed in a later release.

A special value of hostname=default will cause MicroWeb to use the host name of the machine where MicroWeb is running.

Using Perl cgi scripts.
Perl cgi scripts must use the file extensions .pl or .cgi. They can be placed in any directory. The sample site is shipped with a limited perl interpreter. If you need additional library modules, you can add them to the perl directory. If you wish, you can replace the perl directory with a complete binary distribution of the perl interpreter from ActiveState.

If you want to use perl scripts but want to avoid shipping your source code to your customers, you can use Perl2Exe to convert the scripts to an executable files.

Please note that the document_root environment variable may or may not end with /.   For example it may be d:/ on cd-rom, but on local disk it may be c:/microweb.

Using virtual directories.
To access a a file on the local machine, for example c:\windows\temp\foo.html , use a url like /c:/windows/temp/foo.html

Debugging CGI scripts
MicroWeb supports two cgi debugging flags, they can be placed in the url as:
.../debug_cgi/... or .../show_cgi/...
For example to debug /cgi-bin/testcgi.exe use a url of /cgi-bin/debug_cgi/testcgi.exe

debug_cgi will display raw output to the browser, including all headers printed by the cgi.
show_cgi will display the cgi output in a new console window, no data will be sent to the browser.

The flags can also be placed on the command line as -show_cgi or -debug_cgi.

Server Side Includes
MicroWeb supports the exec cgi, exec cmd, include virtual, and include file, server side directives.  Examples:
<!--#exec cgi="/cgi/bin/mycgi.pl"-->
<!--#exec cmd="cgi-bin/mycgi.pl-->
<!--#include virtual="filename.txt"-->
<!--#include file="filename.txt"-->

To use SSI the html file has to have an extension of .shtml.  Recursive includes are not supported.


Release History

V1.9 WIP
Perl build 506+ support.
SSI support
Documentation updates: SSI, Debugging CGI, mfc42.dll, Virtual Directories.
Fix: perl5lib environment variable correctly set if using a user supplied perl directory

V1.8 Nov 8,1998
Perl5lib environment variable is now correctly set to the perl library

V1.7 Sep 20,1998
Support for browsers using a Proxy Server - fixed for Netscape browsers

V1.6 July 20, 1998
Documentation: expanded requirements to include TCP/IP
Expand "No free port" message to say "TCP/IP not installed?"
Scripts will not run if using IE4 with a dial-up connection, and connection is not made.

V1.5 May 21,1998
Script containing print "Location: .." now works

V1.4 April 27,1998
Support for browsers using a Proxy Server
Allow downloading of exe files - exe, cgi and pl files can now be downloaded, as long as they are not placed in the /ci-bin or /scripts directories
Allow choosing of a web browser
Fixed problem if Netscape is running before MicroWeb started

V1.3 April 17,1998
Bug Fix: Hosts file not correctly updated for NT

V1.2 April 08,1998
Change to the method of registering MicroWeb

V1.1 April 03,1998
Bug Fix: Browser displayes empty page if hosts file not found in Windows directory.

V1.0 Mar 22,1998
Initial release


Contacting the Author

We'd like to hear your questions and comments! You can reach us at:

Internet Email: info@demobuilder.com
WWW: http://www.demobuilder.com

 


Ordering Information

For ordering information please visit our Web page.

 


LICENSE AGREEMENT

You should carefully read the following terms and conditions before using this software. Unless you have a different license agreement signed by Mercury Systems, your use of this software indicates your acceptance of this license agreement and warranty.

Registered Version

Each registered copy of MicroWeb may be used at a single workstation to create an unlimited number of websites for distribution, subject to the following conditions:

* A separate registered copy of MicroWeb must be obtained for each workstation on which MicroWeb will be used even if such use is only temporary. This is not a "concurrent use" license.

* Websites created by MicroWeb are shipped with Run-time portions of MicroWeb. No registered user, nor anyone else, may alter or modify the created website. You cannot give anyone else permission to modify the website.

* Websites generated by the registered version of MicroWeb may be freely distributed.

All rights not expressly granted in this license agreement are reserved entirely to Mercury Systems

Governing Law

This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario, Canada.

Disclaimer of Warranty

THIS SOFTWARE AND THE ACCOMPANYING FILES ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. Because of the various hardware and software environments into which MicroWeb may be put, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED. Good data processing procedure dictates that any program be thoroughly tested with non-critical data before relying on it. The user must assume the entire risk of using the program. ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE.

Shareware Version

This is not free software. You are hereby licensed to use the shareware evaluation version of MicroWeb for evaluation purposes without charge for a period of 30 days. If you use this software after the 30 day evaluation period a registration fee is required. Under no circumstances are you licensed to distribute websites created by the shareware evaluation version of MicroWeb. Unregistered use of MicroWeb after the 30 day
evaluation period is in violation of copyright laws.

Distribution of MicroWeb

You are hereby licensed to make as many copies of the shareware evaluation version of this software and documentation as you wish; give exact copies of the original shareware version to anyone; and distribute the shareware version of the software and documentation
in its unmodified form via electronic means. There is no charge for any of the above.

You are specifically prohibited from charging, or requesting donations, for any such copies, however made; and from distributing the software and/or documentation with other products (commercial or otherwise) without prior written permission, with one exception: Disk Vendors approved by the Association of Shareware Professionals are permitted to redistribute MicroWeb subject to the conditions in this license, without specific written permission.