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Server-side
Scripting
An
Introduction to Server-side Scripting
Introduction
What is Server-side Scripting?
Two Built-In Languages
A Simple Example
Resources
Next Section - WCTL
Next Section - WCJS
Introduction
Some
of you might be amused that a document titled A Non-Programmer's
Guide to Web Crossing would contain a lot of information about
server-side scripting since scripting is, after all, just another
word for programming.
Others
of you might just be plain dismayed by the prospect of dealing
with scripts, macros, functions, commands, variables, parameters
and all those buzzwords that programmers seem so comfortable with,
but which most people prefer not to think about.
First,
be reassured. Using the scripting features of Web Crossing is
entirely optional. Web Crossing can be launched and run "out of
the box" without any more customizing than setting your IP address
and email address in the Control Panel. In addition, a huge amount
of customization (changing the look-and-feel of your Web Crossing
server) can be accomplished in the Control
Panel and by clicking the Edit Discussion and Edit
Forum buttons in your conference.
Many
sites are satisfied to take advantage of Web Crossing's default
settings, changing nothing more than a color here or a background
pattern there. However, the urge to customize is strong. And the
true power of Web Crossing as a complete online community site
builder really shows itself when you start delving into the server-side
scripting abilities in Web Crossing. In fact, it is no exaggeration
to say that Web Crossing is the most extendable, most customizable
conferencing and chat system there is.
But let's
start server-side scripting with some small steps in a way that
even non-programmers can understand - and try for themselves.
Later on we will see that for major customization projects that
ability and experience with some sort of programming is helpful.
But there is also a great deal you can do with just a little knowledge
of the basics. And it is with the basics we will start.
What
is Server-side Scripting?
A script
is really just another word for a program. It is just a set of
instructions that take place automatically when you run the script
(cause it to work). Some other words that you may have heard that
mean essentially the same thing are macro, program, function or
command.
"Server-side"
just means that the control of the script is handled by the Web
Crossing server rather than running a script on each user's personal
computer. Web Crossing runs the scripts and sends standard HTML
(web pages) to each user's browser. All the end user's browser
has to worry about is displaying the results and does not have
to worry about the underlying script used to generate the web
pages.
Two
Built-In Languages
Web Crossing
has not only one, but two built-in server-side scripting languages
you can use, Web Crossing Template Language (WCTL), and Web Crossing
JavaScript (WCJS).
You may
be familiar with JavaScript as a client-side scripting language
(meaning the processing takes place in the user's browser rather
than on the server before the HTML is even created or delivered).
Web Crossing JavaScript is similar to the client-side scripting
language, with some important differences. We'll cover that in
our JavaScript section.
A thorough
explanation of JavaScript is documented elsewhere, and is beyond
the scope of this Guide, but we'll point you to some resources
and give you a foundation for working with WCJS on your own if
you should so choose.
However,
we will cover Web Crossing Template Language in greater detail.
Let's start with a simple example of what this all means and how
it works.
A
Simple Example
How does
scripting fit into webx? What would you want to use it for? To
make this clearer, let's start with a very simple example.
Suppose
you want to create a Web Crossing folder called System
Notices and you want to give a personal greeting to a user
when they enter the folder.
For example,
let's say a user named "Doug" clicks on the System
Notices link and enters the folder. You would like Doug
to see a personalized greeting as shown in figure 1.
Figure
1 - Doug sees a folder heading customized for him
How
did we create the folder so that Doug saw his name when he entered
the folder? With a very simple script, that's how! In fact, this
kind of customization is so simple that you will find yourself
wanting to try it right away.
In order
to follow along with many of our examples, you will have to first
make sure that you have selected following checkbox in Control
Panels > General Settings shown in figure 2.
Figure
2 - Enabling scripting for sysops and hosts in headers
Checking
this box allows sysops and hosts to use scripting commands in
folder and discussion headers. This is a simple way to get started
with Web Crossing scripting. It is also a great way to test simple
scripts and see how scripting commands work. We will use this
method often.
Now that
you have confirmed that the checkbox is figure 2 is selected,
you are ready to create your customized System Notices
folder.
- First
create a folder in the usual way by clicking on the Add Folder
button.
- Enter
the title System Notices.
- For
the header, enter the contents of figure 3, below.
Figure
3 - The header for the System Notices folder
This looks
like any ordinary folder header, except for the funny-looking
part inside double-percents: %% user.userName %%.
What
happens is this. When a user opens up the folder and sees the
header, the %% user.userName %% part gets replaced automatically
by the user's "userName" value. All the user's browser sees is
Doug because Web Crossing processes the %% user.userName
%% part on its side before sending the web page to the user's
browser.
Conceptually
this is rather easy to understand, and you can, at this point
go into other folders or discussions and modify the headers to
add a certain degree of customization.
What
you have actually done is take your first step in creating a full-fledged
Web Crossing Template Language (WCTL) script! The next
section will explain more about WCTL, go into what %% user.userName
%% means in more detail and give you some more examples.
A Tutorial
Incidentally,
this section on WCTL is really a step-by-step tutorial where each
lesson builds on the last, so it will be most helpful to you if
you do the examples in order.
If you
have a "development" copy of a Web Crossing server (you
can run one on your own home PC if you want to; your license allows
that), you can try out these things there. If not, you can create
a folder on your regular Web Crossing site where only the sysop
has access privileges, and try
out your various examples and tests inside there where no one
else can see them. If you're editing macros from the standard.tpl
file, you'll want to be sure to read the section on Nesting
Folder Macros to find out how to make your test macros apply
only to your test, sysop-only folder.
Resources
Web
Crossing FAQ:
Sysop
docs:
WCTL
Concept Reference Page
Web
Crossing Tech Support Forum
Developer
Center
WebX
Harbor
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