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Messages - pwhirley

#1
Webster Plus / Re: Inquiry About Webster+ Training
January 03, 2025, 01:10:53 PM
Hello Davinder,

I'm not on the PXPlus team, but I'd be happy to spend some time with you sharing my experience with Webster+. The more of us who use it, the more likely it is to be used by others, and I'm willing to make a contribution to the effort. 
I've only done one small, standalone project with Webster+, but it didn't seem too terribly difficult once I got over the start up hump.  Initial configuration was more daunting to read about than it was to actually do. There were some things I did not understand until I actually got into my project.  If I can help you get started, I may have a better chance of remembering what I learned!

Phil
#2
Nomads / Re: Convert NOMADS file to XML (need IOLIST)
December 23, 2024, 10:48:32 AM
Sorry for the delayed reply, Patrick.  I didn't see it.

The configuration I have for Beyond Compare tells it how to recognize my PXPlus programs and NOMADS files (using the extensions) and links to the decompile programs.  If you are comparing text source files, you do not need a separate configuration.

It is possible to set up the configuration to "decompile" and "recompile" your files, if you wish.  This would allow the program to display text, allow you to do merges and edits, then "recompile" back to metacode.  For my purposes, I do not recompile the PVX programs.  Most of my work is done with text source and the only time I require the decompile function is when I'm compared PXPlus programs in separate folders (such as different versions) or two versions of the same file.

Let me know if you want more information from me.  Again, I didn't realize you had answered on this thread. I guess I do not have alerts set up correctly.

Phil
#3
Thanks again, Mike.  My misunderstanding was in what folders are available through the browser.  In my ignorance I thought Pages was available through the web browser. It turns out only Docroot is available.  This makes total sense, but I wasn't thinking properly. If I simply move my little web page to Docroot instead of Pages, it works fine when presented on the menu as a URL.

I'm learning.
#4
Thanks Mike,
I still don't understand some things regarding images.  I was able to get the .PNG files to display (on my workstation) by inserting a line like this:
[picture file="userguide/image1.png" size=109x39 align="left,top"]

This required that I find all the <img> tags in my HTML and replace them with [picture], which is laborious.  I thought I should be able to use the  short code, which should tell Webster+ to use the <img> as it was entered.  For example:
<iimg width=434 height=154 src=userguide/image1.png" aligh=left>

When I try this, it does not display anything at all... not even a blank rectangle. 

What am I missing about the  short code?  My document displays just fine with all the images when I'm not going through Webster+.  Not only that, everything works through Webster+ *except* the images.  All the other HTML seems to be rendered correctly, including links and style.

Thanks - Phil
#5
Never mind!  I searched through the CATS pages which referred me to the "PICTURE" short code.  That seems to be the solution to my problem. 

Phil
#6
I have a very simple web page that only displays an image.  The image displays just fine if I hope the HTML page in Safari or Edge or any other browser.  But when I add that page, testimage.html, to the Webster+ sidebar menu (as a Webpage), the image will not display.  All the text displays, but not the image.  The page and the JPG (or PNG) file both are in the Pages folder.
I've tried moving the image to other folders but cannot get it to display when viewed from the Webster+ menu.
Below is the simple web page:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Display simple image</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <img width="468" height="312" src="image001.jpg">
  </body>
</html>
#7
Eric, the new program worked perfectly.  Thank you for resolving this for me.

Phil
#8
Thank you very much, EVa!  Apparently I didn't know what question to ask without bouncing around for a little while.

I'll install and give this a try.  I may not be able to do it for a week or so since I'm heading to your side of the Atlantic for a bit.

- Phil
#9
Aha!  I didn't think to try to correctly run a transaction.  HTTP://localhost:8088/?txid=test seems to work - at least one time.  This means that the service is working, even with the error.  It does not work consistently, but I believe that is because I was not closing the window properly.  The txid=test and txid=debug seem to work.  However, my Webster+ app does not work.  If I try to the following:
http://localhost/?pg$=profile
It returns the iNOMADS admin.

There is something else I need to do, apparently, to run Webster+ as a service.  I note that on the command line i have:
-arg 8088 "" c:\apps\coasttec\docroot
But i see nowhere in the Windows service setup that I can specify those arguments.  The only choice I have, apparently, is to select EZWeb Server as the application.

Is it possible to run Webster+ as a service?  If so, how do I set it up?

Thanks - Phil
#10
Thanks for the replies Loren, Stéphane and Mike.  I have tried using my account as the login and have tried setting up a new account and giving that account full control permissions to the PXPlus and app folders but I get the same problem.  I have also tried using NETWORK SERVICE as the logon with the same result.

The service *will* start, but it logs the TCP error mentioned earlier.  It uses a license and when I try to run my app, I get the iNOMADS admin page.  This implies, to me, that EZWEB *is* running, but it will not run my app nor any of the iNOMADS transactions.

I have tried this on two separate Windows 11 workstations with same results.  The Winsock error happens every time and regardless of the user. 

Thanks again for any additional suggestions.

- Phil

#11
Thanks Stéphane, that was helpful.   I'm now seeing a Winsock error:
-----
Jun 24 09:53:04 [*ezweb\server:356] Starting *ezweb/server (PID:6048)
Jun 24 09:53:08 [*ezweb\server:423] [TCP][Winsock]Error status:0 (-1:<Unk>) (PID:6048)
Jun 24 09:53:08 [*ezweb\server:423] OS Cmnd Err: [TCP][Winsock]Error status:0 (-1:<Unk>) (C:\Users\Devon\workspace\repos\development_svnpxp\pvxplus\pvxexe\pvxtcp.c @ 888) (PID:6048)
-----

It is interesting that I don't get such an error when running from command prompt.  Perhaps Devon can shed light since the error references his repo.

Even with the error, the service appears to start, but when I attempt to use the app in the browser *EZWEB returns the message:
"We're sorry, the system security settings are restricting access to this session."

This makes me think that there is some security restriction for the local system account that I'm missing.

Thanks for the help!

Phil
#12
I've got a Webster+ application which runs fine either on port 80 or port 8088 on two different machines as long as I start it from the shortcut or command prompt.
I really want to start it as a service, so I have gone through the Windows service installation.  I first tried using port 8088 but when I installed the service, it would not start.  It begins the start process then just quits.  There are no errors logged.  I tried changing to port 80 and the service starts, but when I try to run the application using LOCALHOST/?pg$=mystartpage it gives me a security warning telling me that perhaps I'm using a different browser or my browser blocks cookies.  Neither of these is true.
I need to run this with the Local System Account and I have made sure that SYSTEM has permission to all the necessary folders.
I do not have nor need an SSL certificate.

Any suggestions about what could be going wrong here? 

Thanks - Phil
#13
Thanks again, Devon.  I am trying to authenticate with a service account, which does not have a client ID and secret.  It has a bunch of other values to pass in.  Those two elements only apply to a regular login.  Every example I've found in other languages for logging in with a service account use the Google-Auth library, which isn't available for PxPlus.

Knowing the the OAuth2 object is available for me to view is good.  I will investigate that route.  If I can use that logic to separately authenticate with a service account I can then use the returned token to instantiate the GoogleSheets object.  That will work nicely.

Phil
#14
Thanks Devon,

I had figured that out and have read the same article.   The solution, of course, is to use a "service account", which is a much better option, anyway.  Sadly, the PxPlus Google Sheets interface doesn't seem to support access with a service account.  I have written a Python script to read the spreadsheet and save the necessary content to a file so that my PxPlus program can pick it up.  It's awkward but it works.

What are the chances I could get the password to the PxPlus programs so that I could copy them and enhance them to use the service account JSON file.  I'd much prefer to keep everything in PxPlus rather than using Python or C#.

Thanks - Phil
#15
Programming / Re: Why use PVX?
June 18, 2024, 12:08:36 PM
Cedric, those are all good points and I sympathize with you.  I'm glad I no longer have to deal with such decisions, but I had trouble finding programmers back when I needed to. 
You said you use your own GUI, which could be part of your adaptability issue. With NOMADS you can make the GUI look however your want and with iNOMADS you can give it a web interface without using WindX. 

You could also take a look at Webster+, which gives you an easy path to a REST model using all the tools of PxPlus on the back end.  It's worth the investigation.  I've found it's pretty easy to implement and performs well while preserving the back end that you're familiar with.  With proper planning you could migrate the whole system to a REST-based application gradually.

I think the coding tools that come with PxPlus tend to be off-putting for programmers coming from other environments, but if you adapt Eclipse for your IDE, you'll find that many of the young programmers are familiar with that environment and adapt well.  PxPlus is easy to learn and many programmers find it a very pleasant alternative to Java and C# when they get into it.

I enjoyed working with PxPlus for the business layer while using SQL for the back end.  This was not only a familiar tool for other programmers but it opened the door to use other tools on the database.

My .02

Phil