/* * READW.ME of the Alaska Web Application Adaptor Version 1.82 * for Windows NT/2000/XP and Windows 95/98/ME * * Release: 1.82.294 * Date: March 24th 2003 * */ ________________ 1.0 Installation 1.1 Procedure When you have downloaded the Web Application Adaptor (WAA) as a ZIP archive, unpack the archive in a temporary directory and start the SETUP program. If you have received WAA on CD-ROM, insert the CD in your CD-ROM drive and start the SETUP program from the WAA1W32 directory. Note for Xbase++ users: Select "Custom installation" (see 1.2 below) The WAA development kit is installed by default on drive C: with the following directory structure: \ALASKA\WAA1W32 |---APACHE Apache HTTP server | |---OS2 OS/2 version | |---W32 Windows 9x and Windows NT version | |---BOOK WAA documentation | |---GATEWAY Gateway between the HTTP server and WAA | |---OS2 OS/2 version | |---W32 Windows 95/98/ME and Windows NT/2000/XP | | version | |---ISAPI Gateway for MS Internet Information Server | |---LINUX Gateway for LINUX glibc2 | |---SOURCE | |---SAMPLES | |---WAA Source code for example applications | |---SERVER Web Application Adaptor (WAA) (and Xbase++ runtime, when installed) When the installation program has finished, the file WAA1SRV.EXE is located in the ..\SERVER directory. This file is the WAA server and it needs a connection to your HTTP server. The connection is provided by a gateway which is available for OS/2, Windows and Linux platforms. How to install and configure the gateway depends on the HTTP server you are using. Please refer to the online documentation for further configuration steps. 1.2 You have Xbase++ installed Select "Custom Installation" and unselect the checkbox for the Xbase++ runtime libraries. It is not recommended to install the Xbase++ runtime environment twice. 1.3 You do not have Xbase++ installed The setup program of the Alaska WAA neither changes any environment variables nor replaces any system components. If you install Xbase++ runtime files included with the Web Application Adaptor, these runtime files will reside in the SERVER directory and will not interfere with an existing Xbase++ installation. The package contains only those Xbase++ runtime files needed by the WAA. 1.4 WAA Worker Threads Each request to the WAA is initiated by a Web browser and sent to the HTTP server. In turn, the HTTP server forwards these requests via the WAA gateway (WAA1GATE.EXE) to the WAA server (WAA1SRV.EXE). On startup, the WAA creates several worker threads which actually process the individual requests. Results are then returned via the gateway to the HTTP server, which in turn notifies the Web browser, thus completing the request. The optimal number of worker threads depends on a variety of issues and is hard to specify in general. As a rule of thumb, the following should be considered: o The faster a request can be fulfilled, the fewer worker threads are required. o The higher the workload for a package request, the more worker threads are needed to achieve good response times. o The optimal number of worker threads is determined by CPU capacity, not by RAM capacity. Since worker threads consume only a very low amount of memory (approximately 100K), the CPU workload becomes the bottleneck, i.e. the determinating factor. Hence, the higher the CPU capacity, the more worker threads can be serviced. 1.5 Linux gateway The source code of the WAA gateways is available with the Professional Subscription. The following shell command should initiate the make process: make -f gate.mak IMPORTANT: Due to the nature of a Unix operating system (lightweight processes) our research has proven the fact that a Linux gateway is up to 25 times faster than the gateway on a Windows platform. 1.6 Samples The samples are located in a subdirectory "WAA". To run the samples, it is required to configure this directory as Document Root directory of the HTTP server. For further details, please be referred to the chapter "HTTP Server" in the online documentation. It might also be necessary to edit the waa1gate.cfg accordingly. ____________________________ 2. Support and contact info 2.1 Technical support Technical support is available for every registered user of Alaska Software products. If you are not a registered user you can also send in your support requests but they may be handled at a lower priority compared to others. Furthermore, a response to your request may not be guaranteed by Alaska Software in this case. To get in contact with our Technical Support use one of the contacts listed in 2.2. 2.2 How to contact Alaska You can use one of the following possibilities: Customers in Europe, Middle East, Africa use: support@de.alaska-software.com FAX: (+49) 6196 / 779 3622 Phone: (+49) 6196 / 779 360 Mail: Alaska Software Technology AG Hauptstrasse 71-79 65760 Eschborn Germany Customers in America, Asia, Pacific Rim, Australia use: support@us.alaska-software.com FAX: (+1) 970-242-7557 Phone: (+1) 970-242-1084 Mail: Alaska Software, Inc. PBM 502 569 32 Road, Ste. 7B Grand Junction CO 81504 U.S.A. 2.3 News groups The Alaska Software news server address is: news.alaska-software.com A variety of Xbase++ related news groups are hosted by Alaska Software on this server and you are invited to visit our news groups regularly. The news groups provide access to a tremendous amount of technical know how and experience that is shared between Xbase++ users world wide. If you have questions about WAA or if you want to share your experiences with other programmers, this is the right place to do it: news://news.alaska-software.com/alaska-software.news.waa _________________ 3. Miscellaneous 3.1 Trademark and copyright * Alaska Xbase++, Alaska XbToolsIII, DMLB, XBP and WAA are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Alaska Software. * OS/2 is a registered trademark of the International Business Machines Corporation. * Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows 95/98/ME are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation. WITH BEST REGARDS Your Xbase++ Team...