Re: Setup Apache/CGIDEV2 vs private RPG based server

[Scott Klement <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm pretty sure I've never posted an example of code for an HTTP server! 
 In fact, I'm not sure that I've ever written one in RPG.

If you write your own HTTP server, then you're going to have to make 
sure it's compatible with all of the different clients (browsers and web 
services clients, for the most part) including workarounds for the 
various bugs.  Then, when you add SSL, it'll add even more complexity 
and more compatibility issues you'll have to work around.

Oh yeah, and you'll need to be very careful about the potential security 
issues.  Write your code perfectly so that there aren't any :)

I sure wouldn't try to code your program logic directly into the HTTP 
server! I'd separate them out, so that the web server uses some type of 
connection method to the other programs, and passes the data to them. 
Essentially, you'll be writing you own Apache with your own CGI-like 
interface to RPG programs.

Seems silly when Apache is free, but... it might be fun :)  It's the 
sort of project I'd enjoy.

I think it makes more "business sense" to just use Apache like everyone 
else.

Douglas Handy wrote:
> I need to make an informed choice between two alternatives.  Here is the
> basic scenario:
>
>  - Client website (hosted offsite) needs to request a XML return data set
>  - Corporate 520 is not currently running Apache
>  - Initially only plans for two different simple DTDs/Schemas
>
> I figure my basic two choices are:
>
>  1) Code my own small server (e.g., based on Scott K's examples)
>  2) Setup Apache and either CGIDEV2 or eRPG SDK or whatever
>
> Both of the initially planned DTDs to be requested are relatively simple,
> and parsing out the one or two query string variables needed should not be
> hard even with the benefit of CVIDEV2 and various other APIs.
>
> Setting up Apache seems like overkill, when all it does it listen for the
> couple of different planned requests and call a CGI program to return the
> data.  But is is a better precedent to set for unknown future plans?  If I
> go the Apache route, can I utilize a SSL connection by just using https: and
> the requisite certificates?
>
> If I don't use Apache, is there an easy way to use SSL (or SSL-like)
> encryption from my own server listening on a given port?