WebSpeed
Installation and
Configuration Guide
WebSpeed Components
A WebSpeed installation consists of several components that you can install on a single machine or that you can distribute across several machines. The WebSpeed components are:
- WebSpeed Agent—An application process that executes the Web objects, performs database transactions, and dynamically merges data into HTML format. This is the standard character Progress 4GL client running in batch mode.
- WebSpeed Broker—An application that does the following:
- Registers the WebSpeed Services that it provides to a NameServer for access by one or more HTML clients. The HTML client runs from within an Internet browser.
If you are interested in running WebSpeed from a client other than the HTML client (for example, an ActiveX page or a Java application), see the “Interfaces” area on the Developer’s Corner Web site at
http://developer.webspeed.com
.- Manages connections between clients and a pool of WebSpeed Agents.
NOTE: If you start a WebSpeed Broker without specifying a username, the Broker inherits the account that the AdminServer is using. This is generally the system account, which might not have access to network drives.- Maintains the status of each agent in its pool and dynamically scales the number of agents according to changing demand.
- WebSpeed Messenger—A process that handles the transfer of data between the Web server and the WebSpeed Agent during a single Web transaction. The Messenger is a CGI program or an ISAPI or NSAPI process, depending on the Web server and how you plan to write your applications.
There is also a Messenger that works with Microsoft’s Active Server Pages, the WSASP Messenger. Using the WSASP Messenger, you can call out of an Active Server Page to a WebSpeed application.
- NameServer—The NameServer maintains a list of WebSpeed Transaction Servers. The Transaction Servers register the application services they provide with the NameServer. The NameServer can then direct client connection requests to a WebSpeed broker that supports a requested application service. This provides scalability and location transparency to your applications.
When the Enterprise Transaction Server is installed, the NameServer also performs load balancing. Load balancing allows you to balance client workload among multiple brokers that support the same application service (that is, the same set of procedures and resources).
- WebSpeed Workshop Environment—The WebSpeed WorkShop Environment is made up of the tools that you use to develop and test WebSpeed applications. It includes the following:
- WebSpeed AppBuilder—The WebSpeed AppBuilder is the visual programming environment in which you develop applications for the Web. The AppBuilder unifies traditional client/server and n-tier functionality with Web-based technology to support a broad, integrated range of application and development options.
If you purchased ProVision Plus, the combined Progress and WebSpeed product, you have the ProVision Plus AppBuilder. The ProVision Plus AppBuilder allows you to build graphical user interfaces, as well as browser-based user interfaces, for your Progress applications.
Either version of the AppBuilder runs on Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0. You can install it on a Windows machine and configure it to work with a WebSpeed Development Server on a UNIX machine.
(For an introduction to using the AppBuilder, see Getting Started with WebSpeed or the Progress Application Development Environment — Getting Started guide.)
- PRO*Tools—PRO*Tools is a set of utility programs related to the process of developing and running Progress applications. For example, one of the PRO*Tools allows you to edit your PROPATH, the path Progress searches to find programs. When you select PRO*Tools from the Tools menu, the ADE displays a resizable palette of icons. You then run an individual PRO*Tool by clicking on its icon. The Color Changer, Screen Scaling Utility, and ProtoGen PRO*Tools do not apply to WebSpeed.
- WebTools—You use the browser-based WebTools to access information on your server, such as the status of CGI Variables. You can also access database information, use the WebSpeed File tools, and access ProMon reports. You can use the Scripting Lab to write and test WebSpeed code, such as HTML that includes Embedded SpeedScript, and send operating system commands. With the Editor WebTool, you can create, open, save, and print files; check syntax; and compile code.
- WebSpeed Development Server—This version of the WebSpeed Transaction Server is intended to support a single developer’s efforts.
- WebSpeed Transaction Server Products—There are three WebSpeed Transaction Server products:
- WebSpeed Transaction Server—This version of the WebSpeed Transaction Server includes the AdminServer, the NameServer, WebSpeed Messengers, WebSpeed Brokers, and five or twenty-five WebSpeed Agents. WebSpeed Brokers launch WebSpeed Agents and drive your Web applications. The greater number of available agents allows you to scale to larger applications. A NameServer working with the WebSpeed Transaction Server provides location transparency.
- WebSpeed Enterprise Transaction Server—This version of the WebSpeed Transaction Server includes the AdminServer, the NameServer, WebSpeed Messengers, WebSpeed Brokers, and supports fifty or two hundred fifty WebSpeed Agents. The greater number of available agents allows you to scale to larger applications. An Enterprise NameServer working with the WebSpeed Enterprise Transaction Server provides location transparency and load balancing.
- WebSpeed Development Server—This version of the WebSpeed Transaction Server includes the AdminServer, the NameServer, WebSpeed Messengers, and WebSpeed Brokers. However, it has only two WebSpeed Agents and is intended to support a single developer’s efforts. The Development Server allows you, through a browser, to run and test applications you build in the WebSpeed WorkShop so that you can evaluate how they perform when served by your Web server and processed by WebSpeed Agents.
Which version of the WebSpeed Transaction Server you should install depends on your needs. The WebSpeed Development Server provides two agents and supports the development efforts of one user only. The WebSpeed Transaction Server and the WebSpeed Enterprise Transaction Server are both effective for team development or deployment. The WebSpeed Enterprise Transaction Server also supports heavier loads than the WebSpeed Transaction Server.
The WebSpeed installation provides one predefined WebSpeed Broker and one predefined NameServer. You can use these predefined components as templates from which you create and configure additional instances of the WebSpeed Broker and, if needed, the NameServer.
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