CATweb lets you use your web browser to view any of your FNProgramvare CAT collection databases. Now you can view your collection with a web browser from any computer on your network.
CATweb is designed to be absolutely simple to use. You should be up and running in less than 10 minutes!
CATweb works with your existing Explorer templates.
No knowledge about web servers is needed to use CATweb. There is no Windows installation required, just drag a folder from the zip file to your disk. To remove it you simply delete the folder.
It could not be any easier!
Bundled with a very compact build of the Apache web server.
CATweb, as delivered, is intended for use on a home or local private network.
Any number of the FNProgramvare CAT programs.
CATweb v2 was tested at the time of release with the CAT versions listed below.
Firefox/IE/Opera/Chrome (should work with any recent browser).
Windows Vista/XP (Users report CATweb works fine with Windows 7 but the author has not tested it).
Please read the following information about security.
It is important to note that the Apache web server delivered with CATweb is configured for casual use within "friendly" home or local private networks. The default configuration supplied may be quite "relaxed" with respect to security.
If you intend to use CATweb as a public-facing web server you will need to take extreme care to set up your server configuration properly to be secure. The issues are precisely the same as those which need to be handled for "standard" Apache. For more information see the references listed here.
Please read this entire README file.
If you have problems, questions, or comments you can reach me by email at my lotsocds address at gmail.com .
Open the distribution ZIP file and copy the contents of the CATweb folder to
c:\CATweb.
You may unzip the CATweb folder to a different drive or location, just be
certain that there are NO space characters in the path to
the CATweb folder. The Apache web server is not self configuring. If CATweb
is not located in c:\catweb then you must edit the
file catweb\apache\conf\httpd.conf to correct the
several absolute paths referenced in the file. Be sure all paths are
updated correctly.
Navigate to the CATweb folder. There you will see a
file called CATweb_v2_Control.exe. Double
click on CATweb_v2_Control.exe to start
the web server.
When the web server is running, a blue globe icon will be
displayed in the system tray. Double click the icon to stop the
web server, the globe will turn grey. Double click again to restart it.
Start your CAT programs and start your web browser.
Using your web browser, browse to http://localhost. You should see the CATweb Launch page with links to browse the CAT programs.
Click a link to browse a CAT program you started in step 2. If all is working well you will see a familiar display from your CAT program.
At this point you can browse your entire CAT collection.
Next time you want to start a browsing session you can use either of these two URL's (substitute your CAT program's name for catraxx).
Launch page:http://localhost/Direct (use as a bookmark):
http://localhost/cgi-bin/catweb.cgi?cat=catraxx
To browse from another machine on your network, use the machine name or IP address of the server instead of localhost in the URLs. For example:
http://HomeServer/
http://192.168.1.52/cgi-bin/catweb.cgi?cat=catraxx
To stop the web server, double click the blue globe icon in the system tray.
That's it!! We are all done. You now can access your collection from your browser. The rest of this document will provide you more detailed information about all the pieces.
ENJOY!
In your CAT program. go to Sites>Edit Menu. Click ADD to add a new menu item. Type "Start Web Server" in the Title box. In the Address box type the full path to CATweb_v2_Control.exe.
Title: Start Web Server Address: c:\catweb\CATweb_v2_Control.exe
If you encounter any problems with CATweb not answered in this document, please send me an email.
If you created a shortcut for CATweb_v2_Control.exe be sure the Start in property points to the CATweb folder (right click on the shortcut, choose Properties > Shortcut Tab > Start in).
If the web server will not start there may be another program that is using the same port (default 80). See below for instructions on how to change the port used by CATweb.
The first thing to try is manually starting Apache. To do this, open a command window and navigate to CATweb\apache and start the program mapache.exe. Take a look in the command window for an error message. This information will help to identify the problem.
ERROR: Can't connect to CATraxx
No Html File Generated
Open a command window and navigate to the folder where your CAT program .exe is located. For instance, with CATraxx that would normally be c:\program files\catraxx. At the command prompt enter the following using the appropriate CAT program name.
catraxx.exe /regserver
Yes. Your custom templates should work fine. Go ahead and try them. If you have any problems please email me a copy of the troublesome template.
Note that a copy of all icons, and any other image elements referenced by the templates, must be stored in the appropriate CAT program sub-folder under the catweb folder.
The web server is not able to access any image elements that your Explorer templates reference using an absolute path, or that are located outside the catweb folder and sub-folders. Paths should be relative to the CAT program sub-folder under catweb.
All URLs must use the web standard forward slash '/' and not the back slash '\'. The CAT Explorer is a little more forgiving and allows the use of the back slash in URLs.
You need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
With CATweb v2 it is possible to run from a limited user account (XP) or a standard user account (Vista).
For CATweb to run properly the administrator needs to grant the restricted user full control to the folder CATweb\apache\logs.
Setting user permissions can be a complicated business. Depending on how your system is presently configured you may need to adjust other folder's permissions to get it to work. This link may be helpful if you don't see the security tab on the folder properties on an XP system.
Please see the Known Problems and Limitations section for additional information.
These links can only work from within the CAT Explorer. They use a special command 'CMD' that does not work from an external program like the browser. In the browser, 'CMD' links will point back to the current page.
New in CATweb 2.4.2 you can optionally enable CMD:EDIT, CMD:GOTORECORD (and PLAY, PLAYALL, PLAYPLAYLIST, PLAYFILTER in CATraxx) to work when your browser is running on the same machine as CATweb (running locally). This feature only works for a local browser. Someone accessing the database over a network will not be able EDIT or use GOTORECORD. To enable this feature add this line to the bottom of catweb\apache\conf\httpd.conf. Apache must be restarted for the change to take effect.
SetEnv allow_ds_calls 1
Those are impossible things for a simple HTML web page to do from the browser without an embedded media player. Several embedded players are available on the web. You could incorporate one into your templates. Alternately, with a little JavaScript you could implement those features and a whole lot more.
New in CATweb 2.4.2 with CATraxx you can optionally enable PLAY, PLAYALL, PLAYPLAYLIST, PLAYFILTER to work when your browser is running on the same machine as CATweb (running locally). This feature only works for a local browser. Someone accessing the database over a network will not be able to play multimedia files. Sorry, but PLAYVIDEO is not supported by the data server. To enable this feature add this line to the bottom of catweb\apache\conf\httpd.conf. Apache must be restarted for the change to take effect.
SetEnv allow_ds_calls 1
The CAT Explorer does a much better job of resizing images than your browser. There is not much that you can do to improve the look of resized images in the browser other than to change the source image's size to more closely match the size displayed in the browser.
Yes. You can also edit the file catweb\htdocs\index.html to delete links to the programs you do not use.
The web server creates log files in catweb\apache\logs. If they get large they can be deleted when the web server is not running.
Some files may be left in the catweb\htdocs\tmp folder. They can be safely deleted.
Almost. The web server, web browser, and CATweb.cgi each add some processing time. Network performance could add some delay too. I'm certainly interested to hear how well you feel it works on your machine.
You can have any number of browsers open and viewing your CAT databases subject to the following limitation. A web page may show errors if multiple browsers make simultaneous requests to CATweb.cgi. A browser refresh should clear things up. The CAT databases are always safe.
Some links use validate= to check for data on the following page. That look-ahead feature in not available for HTML pages generated using the CAT data server interface.
Yes you can. Use an xsl:if as shown here.
<xsl:if test="/data/@dataserver = 'No'"> <xsl:value-of select="'SHOW THIS ELEMENT ONLY IN THE EXPLORER'"/> </xsl:if>
As of this writing, the above technique works with all the CATs except StampCAT and that will probably be remedied future release of StampCAT.
Absolutely. I use JavaScript extensively in my own templates. Adding JavaScript can greatly enhance your CAT browsing experience. Use the common techniques for hiding JavaScript code from non-JavaScript enabled browsers to keep your templates compatible with the CAT Explorer.
Yes. CATweb comes with PHP5. You'll have to figure out how to configure ASP with Apache yourself. CATweb is compatible with any web server that supports CGI so it can work with IIS.
In the related CAT program sub-folder under the catweb folder.
CGI is the acronym for Common Gateway Interface. In short, CGI allows HTML pages to interact with programming applications.
CATweb.cgi is a program. It receives URLs passed through the web server when you click a link in the browser. CATweb.cgi interprets the URL, communicates with the appropriate CAT program to get the information you are looking for in HTML format, and then presents a finished web page to the web server to deliver back to your browser.
Yes. They are standard Apache log files that can be found in the folder apache\logs.
The Apache Software Foundation
Micro- Apache the Apache distribution that was adapted for use with CATweb 2.0
Apache Desktop Reference free online and downloadable electronic book
Yes. You will need to edit the file apache\conf\httpd.conf and restart Apache.
Look for a line like this and change the port number. Apache must be restarted for the change to take effect.
Listen 80
Yes it will. CATweb.cgi has been tested with several web servers including IIS.
It is not available. If you are curious what's in a similar cgi program take a look at CATraxx.cgi. You can find it in the CATraxx Dataserver folder in the files section of the Traxers group on Yahoo (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/traxers/).
There are unlimited possibilities now that templates can take advantage of web technologies like JavaScript, AJAX, and PHP to enhance browsing your CAT collection. I may publish some fun stuff in the future, and I encourage you to experiment and share what you find and learn.
No promises, but if there's a feature you need let me know.
Well a simple thank you always helps! If you'd like to do more you can feed my other passion which is roasting coffee. A gift certificate from Sweet Marias would make me very happy.
Alternately you can use the PayPal link below, or send me an email and we can figure out something else.
Any gestures are appreciated!
As deceptively simple as CATweb appears to be, it is in fact a complex program that took countless hours of effort to develop and refine.
The link is safe, although you might need to turn off the browser plug-in NoScript for the link to work properly.
None at this time.
CATweb and CATweb_v2_Control Copyright (c) 2009 by LotsOCds. All rights reserved. These programs are free for commercial and non-commercial use as long as the following conditions are satisfied. Copyright remains with LotsOCDs, and as such any Copyright notices in the code are not to be removed. If this package is used in a product, LotsOCds should be given attribution as the author of the parts of the product used. This can be in the form of a textual message at program startup or in documentation (on-line or textual) provided with the package. Redistribution and use in any form, with or without modification, is permitted provided that the following conditions are met: 1. Redistributions in any form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. 2. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software must display the following acknowledgement: "Based on CATweb by LotsOCds" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY LOTSOCDS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. The licence and distribution terms for any publicly available version or derivative of this code cannot be changed. i.e. this code cannot simply be copied and put under another distribution licence (including the GNU Public Licence).
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