revServer ?

[Richard Gaskin]

Kee Nethery wrote:

 > Is revServer an unreleased product? Or is it functionality in the
 > enterprise edition that I can have IT install on some of our
 > production servers?
 >
 > Are there docs on how to use it? Lynn's question asking for a CGI
 > version said that it is an Apache module which is exactly what I
 > want.

If you need an Apache module specifically, RevServer won't do what you 
need.  I have yet to get a clear answer as to what exactly it is, but 
it's not an Apache module.

Behaviorally it's very similar to the very-capable-and-highly-underrated 
CGI engine you can use right now.  Neither the CGI engine nor RevServer 
are stay-resident processes; both terminate when your script is done.

After reading Andre's comments here about FastCGI (which can be 
configured on some servers to work with the Rev CGI engine) I've become 
more fond of the "old-fashioned" way the CGI currently works. :)  Having 
discrete processes keeps things clean, and persistence can be provided 
with a data store.

Both the RevServer engine at On-Rev.com and the Rev CGI engine will let 
you mix Rev statements and HTML. With the CGI you run your HTML template 
with your embedded function call placeholders through the engine's 
excellent merge function, and with On-Rev this is done automatically for 
you.

If you review the merge function in the dictionary I think you'll find 
it quite tempting to play with.  It was introduced to xTalk in 
SuperCard, back when they had a server-side engine called Flamethrower. 
  Its adoption in MetaCard/Rev offers the same syntax and benefits it 
was originally designed for, profoundly useful on both servers and the 
desktop.

The version of the merge function used in the On-Rev is a bit more 
flexible than the merge we have available to us in the engine we have 
now, but those differences are relatively minor, providing some helpful 
conveniences but very little that can't provide similar results through 
other means with the CGI engine.

The big benefit to On-Rev is the real-time debugging.  If you're doing 
serious CGI work that can be a godsend.

But you may be surprised at how capable the little CGI engine is. 
Cookies, libURL, and of course all the beauty of chunk expressions -- 
all in your hands and installable on any server today.

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World
  Rev training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
  Webzine for Rev developers: http://www.revjournal.com
  revJournal blog: http://revjournal.com/blog.irv