From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,FREEMAIL_FROM, INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,38d1fe109cd56c87 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: "Vladimir Olensky" Subject: GUI, XML,HTTP and ORBlets (Was Re: GNAT, LINUX, KDE) Date: 1999/11/29 Message-ID: #1/1 X-Deja-AN: 554442362 References: <81fcr1$29iq$1@news.gate.net> Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Date: 1999-11-29T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: David Botton wrote in message <81fcr1$29iq$1@news.gate.net>... Vladimir Olensky wrote: >>Idea here is to use JAVASCRIPT within XML documents to create >>User Interface and exchange information between user form and Ada >>application. >>I think this approach is very good as along term strategy. >I agree very much with you. What is needed is a simple HTTP server written >in Ada so we don't ended up married to Explorer. >It would also be possible to set up connections between JavaScript and Ada >using either AdaApplettes or TCP/CORBA/COM connections to Ada code > from a Java proxy to the JavaScript. For some reason no one has noticed and reacted to the excellent thing mentioned here by David. This thing has to do with CORBA. The idea to use application embedded HTPP server to supply client with XML (HTML) document (which is used to create user GUI) is only initial part of the task. The second one is communication between user GUI and application. HTTP/SGI approach is not very productive and flexible in this respect. The more advanced approach is to use Object WEB model. XML document uploaded to the client may contain applets that make use of CORBA IIOP to communicate with CORBA based server embedded into application or running separately (so called ORBLets). In addition soon almost all browsers will support CORBA ORB that will make it possible to use JavaScript to utilize CORBA IIOP for client-server objects communications. Using such approach GUI (client) side of the (potentially distributed) application may have direct access to application's data and invoke application's procedures/methods directly via ORB regardless physical location of the client GUI. In that model HTTP server should have only very limited functionality which is ability to upload XML(HTML) documents to the client when needed and nothing else. All other things are done via ORB IIOP. In such model this HTTP server could be very simple. There may be even no need of HTTP server at all (just simple procedure that sends XML document (which may be stored separately from application) to the client using HTTP protocol). There may be even several different GUIs (XML documents) for the given application depending on the authority level of the person who is trying to use that application. I think that such CORBA orientated approach is the most universal and much more flexible and portable than use of Microsoft DCOMs. In addition soon we will have the ability to write Java applets using GNAT for Java ( AppletMagic from Averstar is available for a long time already but is commercial product ) . As far as CORBA concerned there are already exist CORBA implementations from Objective Interface entirely written in Ada ( http://www.ois.com/ ). What's more among them exists Real-Time CORBA (ORBExpress GT) which may be used for embedded applications. OIS: "ORBexpress GT was designed with the embedded and soft real-time programmer in mind". So described above approach could be successfully used to provide user GUIs to all kinds of Ada applications (including embedded applications) and provide high level of isolation between user GUI and Ada application. Regards, Vladimir Olensky