Xojo Web Application - Basic Questions

[quote=84361:@Ron Bower]Norman - For me, the real “NEED” to do it soon is to gain confidence that that I can make it work on our server.
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Fair enough

[quote=84361:@Ron Bower]If you looked at the link I posted, you saw a very long page with many different lists. I am thinking of a page with multiple tabs/links - one for each “section” of information presented.
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Sure
Each “section” can be a container control of some type and you append them to the page
It definitely can scroll or resize as necessary but if the page is really long making it scrollable might be better

As Norman said, there are a couple ways to do this.

First, you can have the page become scrollable by dynamically adding additional content (as containers) and changing the MinHeight property. Here is an example.

Or you can use a Container (with ScrollBarsVisible set to Automatic) and add dynamic content to it. Here is an example.

Time to ask for some help…

I’ve been working on a small Web application that connects to and uses a PostgreSQL Database. The application tests out and runs well on my Windows 8 PC. I wrote the application to propgress in baby steps so that the initial goal is to display an admin page, then connect to the database, then create some tables, then proceed from there. Thus all that needs to happen is to display the home page and wait for input.

Today I upgraded to Xojo Pro and Built the Application and tried to run it on the server - so far, it’s not running.

Here are some details that I think anyone would need to start to provide some advice:

I am using Xojo Release 2014r1.1
I set the Build Settings in the left tab to “Linux”
“Shared” Build Settings show CGI Deployment and Port is “Choose Automatically”
When I Build, I get Two Folders (Resources and WES_Test Libs) plus four files (.htaccess, config.cfg, WES_Test, and westest.cgi)
I Used Binary FTP to upload all the items to the cgi-bin folder of our server
I changed the permissions of all files to 755
When I point my Browser to /cgi-bin/westest.cgi nothing happens - no messages, no application, nothing
The application identifier is unique to the server.

Xojo Documentation Book 4, Section 1.4, page 22 mentions 32-bit libraries and our server is (most likely) a 64-bit server. I just simply do not understand where the command listed (assuming our server uses Debian.)

What is Debian, how do I determine if the server uses it, and where do I put:

apt-get update

apt-get install ia32-libs-multiarch

ANY help or advice that anyone can provide would be much appreciated. I have two servers that I can play with and have full control panel access to both.

Thanks to all.
Ron Bower

Do you have shell access on this server? It would be handy to know if there are any errors when running the app manually.

Good Morning, Greg -

Yes - I have full access to two different servers but have not yet been able to locate a log with any information in it.

Yesterday I loaded the files into our club’s server (www.skccgroup.com) hosted by BlueHost.com. However, within a few minutes a couple members started complaining about losing access to some membership lists that use Perl scripts in the cgi-bin folder. I found that the access issues were caused by the .htaccess file created by the Xojo Build process.

So, I have moved everything to my server (www.rkbower.net) hosted by HostMonster.com. Once I get things runnning on my server, then I’ll resume work on our club server.

The program is current here: http://www.rkbower.net/cgi-bin/westest.cgi and gives the following response.

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Internal Server Error

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, webmaster@rkbower.net and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

Apache Server at www.rkbower.net Port 80

Thanks for the help - this is quite frustrating.

Ron Bower

Now we’re getting somewhere :slight_smile:

The internal server error is usually caused by the app crashing on startup. Log into the server and launch your app like this:

ldd MyApplication

I’d be interested in seeing the output from that. (note you are launching the app, not the .cgi file)

Also, the .htaccess file is only there if you need it. You may be able to get away with not using it if it creates other issues for you.

Sorry, Greg, I’m as close to being an idiot as you can get when it comes to server-side stuff.

I can go to my my website using a Browser, with FTP (FileZilla), or onto the cPanel.

I have no idea HOW to “Launch an App” from either of those. I ASSUME I use cPanel, navigate to the cgi-bin folder using the File Manager, but have no idea what to do after that.

Sorry to be so dumb in this area ! ! !

Ron Bower

It’s not a problem. I may have misread a reply from you. I was referring to actually logging into the server and getting a command prompt.

This server you are uploading to… is it a Virtual Private Server, a server that is exclusive to you or are you on a server that is shared by multiple other hosting customers?

Okay, Greg, I got to thinking that was what you were thinking…

I am on a shared server from a Web Hosting company known as HostMonster - http://www.hostmonster.com/

Ron Bower

[quote=86041:@Ron Bower]I am on a shared server from a Web Hosting company known as HostMonster - http://www.hostmonster.com/
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Will not work (well). On there, done that. The best deal going right now with the best user-level documentation and the least hassles for Xojo deployment is:

http://digitalocean.com

You can spin up a 32-bit Ubuntu, 512MB RAM, 20GB SSD storage, 1TB transfer for $5/month. Should more than enough to play around with. This configuration presents none of the problems with large XFS file systems that many of us have been experiencing with 64-bit VPSs running 32-bit compatibility.

Keeping in mind that Digital Ocean says nothing about security on their servers. You’d be spinning up an empty server with the default firewall settings. I’m not sure I’d call that the “best deal” if you are not familiar with web server technologies.

Have you considered using Xojo Cloud?

Okay, frustration level rising here…

I have another virtual personal server hosted by WebHostingPad.com - http://www.webhostingpad.com/

I am getting similar results there.

I can go back to testing on our club’s server hosted by BlueHost.com but need to know a couple things…

  1. Is it REQUIRED that the files all reside in the cgi-bin folder or can they be uploaded into a new folder I can create for the project ?

  2. IF I have to place them into the cgi-bin folder, then I can not use the .htaccess file. I understand I can delete the ,htaccess file but really prefer to get away from the cgi-bin folder altogether. There is alrteady a lot of things there that our webmaster is working to sort out.

  3. Using Xojo Cloud may be a last resort but pretty much defeats the who goal of this project - develop an application that uses the Database on our own server so that our webmaster can have full access and others may someday migrate to a real PHP interface using the data. I’d be better off giving up on Xojo Web and going directly into PHP development.

Perhaps it is time for a telephone conversation with Xojo Pro support.

Ron Bower

[quote=86055:@Greg O’Lone]Keeping in mind that Digital Ocean says nothing about security on their servers. You’d be spinning up an empty server with the default firewall settings. I’m not sure I’d call that the “best deal” if you are not familiar with web server technologies.
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That’s funny. They actually say a lot about security on servers and demystify a lot. Regardless of who Ron decides to use, I’d certainly recommend this read so he can familiarize himself with what he’s being sold.

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/articles/an-introduction-to-securing-your-linux-vps

Ron, what kind of VPS is the WebHostingPad? Linux? Which flavor? Ubunutu? 32 or 64 bit? If it’s 64-but, you’ll need to ssh into the server and install 32 bit libraries.

If you’re deploying CGI, you may need to ensure that Apache is set up correctly for it. Typically, a /cgi-bin/ path on the web server root is set up for cgi. Alternatively, you can deploy stand-alone, and you’ll usually get much better responsiveness.

I should do a webinar on this stuff soon, because it’s easy when you’ve done it a couple times. Xojo Cloud is wonderful in its own vacuum, but seems to miss on many people’s actual contexts. So much confusion reigns…

Brad - You’re talking to me from a 50,000 foot level while sitting here at Sea Level.

When I try to execute http://www.ronbower.us/cgi-bin/westest.cgi I get:

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Internal Server Error

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, webmaster@ronbower.us and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

I am totally lost and have no idea how to “ssh into the server and install 32 bit libraries.”

Sorry to be so dumb - Xojo made this sound so simple…

Writing the app is simpler than learning HTML, CSS, php (or whatever), javascript etc all on your own.
Deploying to your own server still requires you to know how to administer that server - not necessarily trivial stuff.
That’s why we have Xojo Cloud - one click deploy from the IDE

If you read that page and come away with the feeling that you understand it well and that it’s worth your time to implement security on your own, Xojo Cloud is not the right solution for you. Most of our users don’t want to be server experts. It appears that Digital Ocean has put a lot of useful information all in one place. But time is money. If you want to spend your time learning all of that, implementing it and maintaining it, then your time may not be worth very much. If you spend more than one hour per month dealing with that (including all the upfront learning and set up time), then you are spending more money with Digital Ocean than you’d spend with Xojo Cloud.

[quote=86067:@Ron Bower]I am totally lost and have no idea how to “ssh into the server and install 32 bit libraries.”
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Well, you’ve got the 50,000 feet and sea level backwards, but that is OK. :-).

What happens if you just try uploading a Hello World project?

Geoff, what about his database? XC is wonderful. No argument from this corner. But we’ve gone down this path a whole bunch of times. WE developer needs something XC doesn’t have, and still XC is perfect solution for beginners. Problem not solved. Now we need to look at his deployment issue, from whatever altitude he’s flying.

You can use SQLite as one solution or use Rackspace’s MySQL database service as another. We will be adding database servers as an option for Xojo Cloud in the not-to-distant future.

[quote=86078:@Geoff Perlman]You can use SQLite as one solution or use Rackspace’s MySQL database service as another. We will be adding database servers as an option for Xojo Cloud in the not-to-distant future.
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Ron’s company’s existing database. The whole point of him developing a WE app. See thread above.