Setting up reliable pipes on Win32

["Keijser, Jan Just" <KE...@logica.com>]

Hi,

I am still working on the 1.3.x version of Apache for Win32 (Win95/98 in
particular). One of the issues is with CGI scripts/programs on Windows
95/98: pipes on this platform are implemented in such a horrible fashion
that it has been difficult to set this up properly. 

However, I just found out that there _is_ a way to have 16bit executables
(i.e. DOS programs), batch file and Win32 console programs work as CGI's by
using an intermediary program (see the Microsoft KB for more details). This
intermediary program, let's call it ApacheSpawn, is a very simple Win32
console app that does nothing more than pass along data from the real CGI to
Apache. By using ApacheSpawn you can also run Apache as a service on
Win95/98 _and_ have 16bit CGI's working (this was previously not possible,
due to the fact that when you run Apache as a service, you have no console
window and most batch files and 16bit programs fail; I believe this is also
true on NT). With ApacheSpawn, a new but hidden console is opened, to which
the 16bit stuff can write and all is fine. The user who is running Apache
does not see any windows opening up and closing, since the new window is
hidden.

Would a beast such as ApacheSpawn be useful? It is quite easy to patch the
Apache code to always use it instead of calling the CGI program directly. 

Regards,

JJ Keijser
Logica Inc

Re: Setting up reliable pipes on Win32

[Bill Stoddard <st...@raleigh.ibm.com>]

You should be able to run 16 bit CGIs in 1.3.10, when it's released. I added
this support in 1.3.9, then broke it before the release with a stupid last
minute change. It should be fixed now. Download the current development tree
(http://dev.apache.org/from-cvs) and see if it works for you.

Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: Keijser, Jan Just <KE...@logica.com>
To: 'apdev' <ne...@apache.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 1999 2:28 PM
Subject: Setting up reliable pipes on Win32


> Hi,
>
> I am still working on the 1.3.x version of Apache for Win32 (Win95/98 in
> particular). One of the issues is with CGI scripts/programs on Windows
> 95/98: pipes on this platform are implemented in such a horrible fashion
> that it has been difficult to set this up properly.
>
> However, I just found out that there _is_ a way to have 16bit executables
> (i.e. DOS programs), batch file and Win32 console programs work as CGI's
by
> using an intermediary program (see the Microsoft KB for more details).
This
> intermediary program, let's call it ApacheSpawn, is a very simple Win32
> console app that does nothing more than pass along data from the real CGI
to
> Apache. By using ApacheSpawn you can also run Apache as a service on
> Win95/98 _and_ have 16bit CGI's working (this was previously not possible,
> due to the fact that when you run Apache as a service, you have no console
> window and most batch files and 16bit programs fail; I believe this is
also
> true on NT). With ApacheSpawn, a new but hidden console is opened, to
which
> the 16bit stuff can write and all is fine. The user who is running Apache
> does not see any windows opening up and closing, since the new window is
> hidden.
>
> Would a beast such as ApacheSpawn be useful? It is quite easy to patch the
> Apache code to always use it instead of calling the CGI program directly.
>
> Regards,
>
> JJ Keijser
> Logica Inc