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- This message is to announce the availability of a new beta-test
- version of the HTTP server implementation (called "HTTPS") for
- Windows NT. This software allows a Windows NT machine to serve
- information using the World-Wide Web distributed hypermedia system.
-
- HTTPS version 0.96 is an HTTP/1.0 server which runs as a Windows NT
- "Service". Executables for Intel-based systems, MIPS systems, and
- DEC Alpha systems, are available.
-
- This version is mostly a bug-fix release.We plan to make the 1.0
- release as soon as we've had the opportunity to test it with the
- final release of Windows NT 3.5.
-
- Hypertext documentation is available at:
-
- http://emwac.ed.ac.uk/html/internet_toolchest/https/contents.htm
-
- The server may be FTP'd from emwac.ed.ac.uk in the directory
- pub/https. There are three ZIP files, for the different CPU types.
- Be sure you download the right one for your processor.
-
- You may also wish to download the WAISTOOL toolkit for building and
- searching WAIS databases, which can be found in /pub/waistool.
-
-
- New features in 0.96
- ====================
-
- * The default data directory location is now C:\HTTPS, to help people who
- have a CD as D: and don't realise they can configure the location.
-
- * Error messages returned to the client now contain the HTTP status code
- in the text in a less obtrusive manner.
-
- * Bug fixed: on some systems, CGI scripts appear to run extremely slowly.
- (I was eventually able to duplicate this on a system here, and
- was thus in a much better position to fix it.)
-
- * Bug fixed: redirect URLs now contain the IP address of the interface on
- which the call was received, if this is different from the one corresponding
- to the host name.
-
- * Bug fixed: ComSpec and PATH environment variables are now passed to
- CGI scripts.
-
- * Bug fixed: Accept: * is now treated like Accept: */*. (Mozilla.)
-
- * Bug fixed: logfile now closed correctly when system is shut down.
-
- * Bug fixed: Very large files (4Mb) could not be served after the system
- had been up for a while.
-
- * Bug fixed: when browsing, the URL associated with "Up to parent directory"
- did not have a trailing slash.
-
-
- Features
- ========
-
- * HTTP/1.0 server which understands HEAD, GET and POST methods.
-
- * Supports CGI scripts and HTML forms. Example scripts in C
- included.
-
- * Runs as a Windows NT "Service", so that it keeps going even
- when there's no-one logged in to the machine's console.
-
- * Handles multiple simultaneous connections using multiple threads.
-
- * Can search locally-held WAIS databases (requires WAISTOOLs
- for Windows NT, also available from EMWAC).
-
- * Supports directory browsing (can be disabled).
-
- * Support for clickable images (ISMAP).
-
- * Available for DEC Alpha, MIPS and Intel architectures.
-
- * Very fast, thanks partly to the use of Windows NT memory-mapped file I/O.
-
- * HTTP transaction log written to text file. Log file location is
- configurable.
-
- * Logs errors using the Windows NT Event Logger.
-
- * Configuration through the Control Panel, with configuration
- information stored in the Registry.
-
- * If there is more than one network interface in the machine, HTTPS
- will listen for incoming connections on all interfaces.
-
-
- This server has been produced as part of the European Microsoft
- Windows NT Academic Centre (EMWAC) project. EMWAC has been set up to
- support and act as a focus for Windows NT within European academia.
- It is sponsored by Datalink Computers, Digital, Microsoft, Research
- Machines, Sequent and the University of Edinburgh.
-
- Acknowlegements to Silicon Graphics for providing a machine for the MIPS
- port.
-
- A Gopher server and a WAIS server for Windows NT are also available
- for beta test, available from the same site as above.
-
-