Web Connection features a number of features for building Distributed and Enterprise applications that don't rely on HTML to provide the interface. You can use a Fat Client VFP application to request data and logic to fire on the server and retrieve that data to the VFP app. Or you can use a dynamic DHTML/scripted Browser application to request data from the server and then manipulate the browser's content via script code from the data retrieved on the Web server.

XML features heavily in this environment and Web Connection provides a host of features for XML conversions as well as server based XML services that allow client apps to simply request data.

XML Generation
Distributed Applications
Enterprise Features

XML Output from Objects and Cursors

Note:  The following examples require IE 5.0 or later to view the XML data displays. Other browsers may not display the content or display it as text only.

XML is vital to the Web as a data sharing facility and Web Connection provides you with the tools to integrate this hot technology easily into your existing client and server apps. Web Connection's wwXML class provides easy XML conversions that allow you to quickly move from VFP data and objects to and from XML. The following examples demonstrate data exports, but wwXML also includes XML imports to repopulate/create cursors and objects.

VFP and SQL Cursor  XML Conversions:

Customer table presented as XML    (Schema version | Show Code)
This example demonstrates simple data exports to XML using wwXML::CursorToXML(). Note that the output contains a DTD or Schema with structure information that makes it possible for the client to create data structures on its own. Note the schema version requires MSXML 2.6 or later.

SQL Server Pubs tables presented as XML  (Schema version | Show Code)
This example demonstrates the same functionality for generating XML from an ODBC datasource using the wwXML::SQLCursorToXML() method. Note: Since VFP returns ODBC data in cursors you can always use SQL Passthrough or Remote views and CursorToXML() to convert this data into XML directly without use of this method.

Object XML conversions:

Simple Customer Object presented as XML    (Schema version | Show Code)
This example dumps a record to an object using SCATTER NAME and then exports the object to XML with a DTD or Schema. 

Hierarchical Invoice Object presented as XML    (Show Code | Invoice Class)
This example creates a complex business object that contains several sub-objects. An invoice 'container' object with an oCustomer and aLineItems subobjects that host the customer and line item information. wwXML can render this object structure as hierarchical XML.

Fat Client VFP Samples

Web Connection provides a number of features for building rich Client/Server applications that do not require a browser front end. Instead you can use a VFP client application to communicate with a Web Connection backend. You can drive Web applications using the HTTP protocol with just a few lines of code. The examples demonstrate simple retrieval of Web content, controlling an application via HTTP, exchanging data between VFP clients and Servers and using a Web Connection server as an HTTP based database server.  You can also compile wwHTTPDemo.pjx in the \wwIPStuff_samples directory and run this app from within Visual FoxPro's IDE to avoid using IE. 

VFP Fat Client HTTP Demos 

(download this file to your local hard drive into a temporary  directory and execute through Explorer or from within Visual FoxPro.
 Don't just 'Open' or 'Run' this file from the download dialog - this will fail due to the inability to unpack the support files in Temporary Internet Files)

Web based Soap Client for stock quotes

The following example demonstrates server to server communication by retrieving stock quotes from a remote server (www.west-wind.com) which in turn receives stock quotes from an HTML page on the msn.MoneyCentral site. The Web application uses SOAP to communicate with the Web server from a Web application.

Stock Portfolio Example

Remote SQL Commands via XML

Note:  This sample uses and requires IE5 as it uses the XMLDOM parser and the XMLHTTP component

The following example demonstrates how you can use XML to request SQL data from a the Web server and use that data inside a pure browser based application using Internet Explorer (required). Note that server loads these pages only once, then keeps the page active and only reloads the data as needed rather than refreshing the entire page. To see the client side script used to request and display the data use view source from the browser.

Thin Client XML SQL Example - XML Message Display

Dynamic HTML display from XML SQL query

XML Guestbook using Remote SQL

Asynchronous Server Calls

Run Asynchronous XML Request

This sample request simulates a long running report that's offloaded to another process for processing, while leaving the Web Connection server(s) free to process other requests with progress provided via browser polling. Uses the wwAsyncWebRequest class to submit and retrieve events in a VFP or SQL Server table driven event manager. View Code