Apple WebObjects 3.5 - Manual (Page 27)

Running a WebObjects Application
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Internet Server API (ISAPI). Thus, WebObjects adaptors can take
advantage of server-specific interfaces but still provide server
independence.
By default, WebObjects uses the WebObjects CGI adaptor. The Common
Gateway Interface is supported by all HTTP servers, so you can use the
CGI adaptor with any server—including those that are publicly available.
As demands on performance increase, switch to one of the other adaptors
with a server that supports the corresponding API (Netscape Server API or
Internet Server API). Such servers are capable of dynamically loading the
adaptor, eliminating the overhead of starting a new process for each request.
As shown in Figure 7, the communication between the adaptor and the
HTTP server occurs inside a single process.
Figure 7. The Netscape Interface Adaptor
The online document Serving WebObjects describes how to configure a
WebObjects adaptor.
The WebObjects Application Executable
An application executable is an executable file, provided by you or by
WebObjects, that receives incoming requests from the adaptor and
responds to them, usually by returning a dynamically generated HTML
page.
If your application is written entirely in WebScript, it can use the default
application executable, NeXT_ROOT
/NextLibrary/Executables/WODefaultApp ,
provided as part of the WebObjects package. If your application contains
compiled code, you build your own executable and use it in place of
WODefaultApp .
WebObjects applications are event driven, but instead of responding to
mouse and keyboard events, they respond to HTTP requests. A
WebObjects application receives a request, responds to it, and then waits
for the next request. The application continues to respond to requests until
it terminates. During each cycle of this request-response loop, the application
extracts the user input from the request, invokes an action if one is
Netscape
Commerce
Server
Netscape
Interface
Adaptor
WebObjects
Application
WebObjects
Interface