Chapter 1: Introducing EAServer

Dynamic HTML support

You can use Java servlets, JavaServer Pages (JSPs), or PowerDynamo Web sites to dynamically create HTML pages and interactive HTML forms. Both PowerDynamo and Java servlets can call methods in EAServer components.

Java servlets are Java classes that use the standard javax.servlet API to respond to HTTP requests. EAServer can host Java servlets natively, and you can use EAServer Manager to associate logical paths in a HTTP URL with a Java servlet. JavaServer Pages extend the HTML page description language, allowing you to embed Java scriptlets within HTML tags. See these chapters in the EAServer Programmer’s Guide for more information:

If you have the PowerBuilder IDE, you can deploy JSP-based Web applications from PowerBuilder to EAServer. See Working with Web and JSP Targets in your PowerBuilder documentation set.

PowerDynamo Web sites contain static HTML pages and dynamic pages implemented in the DynaScript language. You can configure EAServer to host PowerDynamo Web sites natively. Chapter 3, “Creating and Configuring Servers,” in the EAServer System Administration Guide describes how to configure EAServer to host PowerDynamo Web sites. See the PowerDynamo User’s Guide for information on creating Web sites and dynamic pages.

PowerDynamo Web site conversion utility

EAServer includes the Dyn2JSP utility to convert PowerDynamo Web sites into JSP-based J2EE Web applications. Sybase recommends that you migrate your PowerDynamo Web sites to the J2EE model. Support for PowerDynamo will be removed from later versions of EAServer. For information on using the Dyn2JSP utility, see the HTML documentation included in the PDynamo2JSP directory of your EAServer installation.

Web server redirector plug-in

EAServer hosts Web applications and functions as a Web server. You can install a redirector plug-in on the Web server host that allows you to send client requests directly to the Web server. The redirector plug-in enables communication between the Web server and the EAServer HTTP protocol listener. The redirector plug-in forwards requests to EAServer that need to access servlets, JSPs, and so on. EAServer processes the requests and returns the results back to the Web server.

See the EAServer Installation Guide for a list of the Web servers for which EAServer provides redirector plug-ins.