Apple WebObjects 5 - Manual (Page 44)

44 Developing a WebObjects HTML Application
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Apple Computer, Inc. January 2002
C H A P T E R 4
HTML-Based Applications
Here is a brief description of the elements involved in the communication process:
■ A Web browser. WebObjects supports all Web browsers that conform to HTML
3.2. Of course, if your application uses more advanced features like JavaScript or
QuickTime, the users’ browsers must support these features.
■ A Web server. WebObjects supports any HTTP server that uses the Common
Gateway Interface (CGI), the Netscape Server API (NSAPI), the Internet Server
API (ISAPI), or the Apache module API. Although necessary for deployment,
you don’t actually need a Web server while you develop your WebObjects
applications. Alternatively, you can deploy WebObjects applications as servlets
inside a servlet container. See
“JSP and Servlets” (page 89) for more information.
■ An HTTP adaptor. The HTTP adaptor connects WebObjects applications to the
Web by acting as an intermediary between Web applications and HTTP servers.
Note that the HTTP adaptor may not be a separate process but a Web server
plugin. An HTTP adaptor is not needed when an application is deployed as a
servlet.
■ A WebObjects application instance. The application instance receives
incoming requests and responds to them, usually by returning a dynamically
generated HTML page. You can run multiple instances of an application when
one instance is insufficient to handle the application’s user load. The application
process is made up of your business code and the WebObjects frameworks.
Developing a WebObjects HTML Application
Developing a WebObjects application is a matter of creating your templates,
bindings, and Java code files. Although these files are text based and thus could be
created using a text editor, WebObjects provides graphical tools that simplify the
entire process. The sequence of tasks used to create a WebObjects HTML
application with these tools is as follows:
■ Create a model using EOModeler.
■ Create a project using Project Builder.
■ Edit your components with WebObjects Builder.
You have already been introduced to EOModeler. Project Builder and WebObjects
Builder are discussed in the following sections.