Creating Web Broker Applications

You can use Web Broker to create Web server applications such as CGI applications or dynamic-link libraries (DLLs). These Web server applications can contain any nonvisual component. Components on the Internet category of the Tool palette enable you to create event handlers, programmatically construct HTML or XML documents, and transfer them to the client.

To create a new Web server application using the Web Broker architecture, choose FileNewOther. In the New Items dialog box, select the Delphi Projects tab. Then select the New tab and double-click the Web Server Application. Then select the Web server application type:

Web server applications

Web server application type	Description
ISAPI and NSAPI Dynamic Link Library	ISAPI and NSAPI Web server applications are DLLs that are loaded by the Web server. Client request information is passed to the DLL as a structure and evaluated by TISAPIApplication. Each request message is handled in a separate execution thread. Selecting this type of application adds the library header of the project files and required entries to the uses list and exports clause of the project file.
CGI Stand-alone executable	CGI Web server applications are console applications that receive requests from clients on standard input, process those requests, and sends back the results to the server on standard output to be sent to the client. Selecting this type of application adds the required entries to the uses clause of the project file and adds the appropriate $APPTYPE directive to the source.
Apache Shared Module (DLL)	Selecting this type of application sets up your project as a DLL. Apache Web server applications are DLLs loaded by the Web server. Information is passed to the DLL, processed, and returned to the client by the Web server.
Web App Debugger stand-alone executable	Selecting this type of application sets up an environment for developing and testing Web server applications. Web App Debugger applications are executable files loaded by the Web server. This type of application is not intended for deployment.

CGI applications use more system resources on the server, so complex applications are better created as ISAPI, NSAPI, or Apache DLL applications. When writing cross-platform applications, you should select CGI stand-alone or Apache Shared Module (DLL) for Web server development. These are also the same options you see when creating WebSnap and Web Service applications.

For more information on building Web server applications, see Creating Internet Server Applications.