3.0.1

In version 3.0.1, virtually every major component has been overhauled to make RESTful web services even easier to create and debug. Just read on...

HTTP Framework Setup

SRP HTTP Framework > What's New > NDW_HTTP_FRAMEWORK_SETUP_V301.png
Introduced in v3.0.0, the HTTP Framework Setup form (NDW_HTTP_FRAMEWORK_SETUP) form includes more options:

Enable Logging - No longer is it necessary to rename your log folder to turn off logging. Now you can simply toggle this on or off!
Log Errors Only - Are you getting lost in a sea of log files? Perhaps you only need to find those pesky error responses. Easy peasy! Just check this box and only 4xx and 5xx HTTP status code responses will be sent to your folder.
Aborted Service - Miss having an INET_ABORTED equivalent feature? You're in luck. A template for handling aborted requests now ships with v3.0.1 called HTTP_ABORTED_SERVICE. Feel free to modify this or copy it into your own custom aborted service handler.
Debugger Setting - Tired of running back and forth to the Database Manager to change the Debugger Setting? Are you concerned that modifying this setting will affect your desktop users? If you answered yes to either question we have you covered! Now you can specify your own Debugger Setting that will only affect your web services. Of course, what good is having an Intercept option without a Debugger Intercept service? Glad you asked because we have that covered too. The HTTP_DEBUGGER_SERVICE routine also ships with v3.0.1. Like HTTP_ABORTED_SERVICE, you are free to modify this routine or make a copy to use.

Log like a Boss

Logging is a critical tool in the developer's belt when troubleshooting and profiling web services. In the last release we updated the Response log to include useful metadata. In 3.0.1, we go full throttle with the logging enhancements.

Request Logs - Once upon a time the Request logs were nothing but raw text dumps of the Request argument that the OECGI passed into HTTP_MCP. We are now proud to showcase our new and improved Request log format:

Request Argument
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<01> HTTPQueryString          : 
<02> HTTPPathInfo             : contacts
<03> HTTPContentType          : 
<04> HTTPContentLength        : 0
<05> HTTPGatewayInterface     : CGI/1.1
<06> HTTPHTTPS                : off
<07> HTTPAccept               : */*
<08> HTTPCookie               : 
<09> HTTPFrom                 : 
<10> HTTPReferer              : 
<11> HTTPUserAgent            : PostmanRuntime/6.1.6
<12> HTTPTranslated           : C:\MyWebsite\www\contacts
<13> HTTPRemoteAddr           : 127.0.0.1
<14> HTTPRemoteHost           : 
<15> HTTPRemoteIdent          : 
<16> HTTPRemoteUser           : 
<17> HTTPRequestMethod        : GET
<18> HTTPScriptName           : /cgi-bin/oecgi4.exe
<19> HTTPServerName           : www.contacts.com
<20> HTTPServerPort           : 80
<21> HTTPServerProtocol       : HTTP/1.1
<22> HTTPServerSoftware       : Abyss/2.9.3.6-X1-Win32 AbyssLib/2.9.3.6
<23> HTTPServerURL            : 
<24> HTTPNoURLDecode          : 
<25> HTTPResponseIsBinary     : 
<26> HTTPRegistrySettings     + 
     RegistryInfo             : SOFTWARE\RevSoft\OECGI4
     EngineName               : 
     ServerURL                : localhost
     ServerPort               : 8088
     ApplicationName          : FRAMEWORKS
     UserName                 : FRAMEWORKS
     StartupFlags             : 1
     ShutdownFlags            : 1
     FilePath                 : 
     FilePathMapped           : 
     FileMode                 : 1
     SysDownPage              : 
     OILocation               : 
     AdditionalValues         : HTTP_MEDIA_TYPE,HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING,HTTP_ACCEPT_CHARSET,HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE,HTTP_AUTHORIZATION
<27> HTTPOECGIVersion         : VERSION:OECGI4
<28> HTTPGetString            : 
<29> HTTPPostString           : 
<30> HTTPAdditionalValues     + 
     Media-Type               : 
     Accept-Encoding          : gzip, deflate
     Accept-Charset           : 
     Accept-Language          : 
     Authorization            :

Response Logs - Turns out more metadata is a good thing so we went ahead and updated the Response log with the current HTTP Framework version, Authorization information, and Query Params used:

HTTP Framework : v3.0.1 - 07/11/2017 12:58PM
Time to Execute: 00h 00m 00s 063ms
Request Method : GET
Request URL    : http://www.contacts.com/api/contacts
Authorization  : None
Query Params   : company=benton
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Status: 200 OK
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
Content-Type: application/hal+json
Content-Length: 507
{
   "_embedded" : {
      "item" : [
         {
            "_links" : {
               "self" : {
                  "href" : "http://www.contacts.com/api/contacts/1"
               }
            },
            "company" : "Benton, John B Jr",
            "email" : "jbutt@gmail.com",
            "first_name" : "James",
            "last_name" : "Butt"
         }
      ]
   },
   "_links" : {
      "self" : {
         "href" : "http://www.contacts.com/api/contacts"
      }
   }
}

Aborted Logs - We added a new log type for aborted web services to make it easy to identify the offending code:

ProcErr Argument
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENG0010:  HTTP_CONTACTS_SERVICES, line 315.  Variable has not been assigned a value.

Debugger Logs - For those who want to utilize a Debugger Intercept option for more indepth troubleshooting in their web applications, we also provide a JSON formatted log file for the basic intercept content:

{
   "CallDepth" : 5,
   "CallStack" : [
      {
         "LineNo" : 315,
         "ProcName" : "HTTP_CONTACTS_SERVICES"
      },
      {
         "LineNo" : 155,
         "ProcName" : "HTTP_SERVICES"
      },
      {
         "LineNo" : 81,
         "ProcName" : "HTTP_ENTRY_POINT_SERVICES"
      },
      {
         "LineNo" : 155,
         "ProcName" : "HTTP_SERVICES"
      },
      {
         "LineNo" : 135,
         "ProcName" : "HTTP_MCP"
      }
   ],
   "Curr_Program" : "HTTP_CONTACTS_SERVICES",
   "LineNo" : 315,
   "SPStatCode" : "ENG0010:  HTTP_CONTACTS_SERVICES, line 315.  Variable has not been assigned a value.",
   "SPStatus" : 1
}

Log File Names

What's in a name? Actually, quite a bit. We've even updated the names assigned to our log files for more diagnostic muscle:

SRP HTTP Framework > What's New > HTTPLogFiles.png

The format of each file name is YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS_PID_LogType.log. The PID (Process ID) can be quite useful when multiple requests are processed simultaneously. Each OpenEngine process will have its own unique PID. Since each HTTP Request and associated Response will be handled by the same OpenEngine, it's quite easy now to pair up the relevant log files. The PID also makes it easy to see when one OpenEngine process may have been terminated due to a runtime error. For instance, in the above screen shot the Debugger log file introduces a new OpenEngine (PID 43028) because the original OpenEngine (44448) used by the previous HTTP Request terminated.

Making Contacts

No, we are not adding social networking to the product but we are offering a full featured Contacts web service. A sample HTTP_CONTACTS_SERVICES has shipped with the product for some time, but it was mostly there as example code and was never connected to a database table. No more! We are now including a sample CONTACTS database table (tied to the GLOBAL database). Just attach and then run the Contacts web service out of the box. We have also updated HTTP_CONTACTS_SERVICES to support all major CRUD activities, including searching via query parameters. We've added a lot of comments to this routine to get both novice and experienced web developers productive even quicker. Use this routine as a template for your own web services or copy bits and pieces to augment exist services.

3.0.0

Version 3.0.0 introduces new features to make it easier to configure setup values and to accept special URLs without requiring authentication.

NDW_HTTP_FRAMEWORK_SETUP

SRP HTTP Framework > What's New > HTTPFrameworkSetup.png

This form can be used to configure all setup parameters without the need to edit the SRP_HTTP_FRAMEWORK_SETUP record directly.

Non-Authenticated URLs

A new setup parameter has been created to store one or more URLs that should pass through the authentication logic. The HTTP_Authentication_Services module has been updated to verify if the URL requires authentication. If not, the current URL request is marked as authenticated so it can continue to be processed by the end point API.

This feature is helpful when OAuth-type requests need to be supported. OAuth relies upon communication between trusted servers, away from client-side web and mobile applications. This is part of the security mechanism of OAuth. Generally, these URLs cannot be configured to support server-side authentication so these need to be allowed through without authentication.

HTTP_MCP and Logging

The logging feature of HTTP_MCP has been updated to provide more useful information in the response log. In addition to the basic response information (e.g., status code, response headers, and the body), metadata for the URL request itself is added so that it is easier to match the request to the response. Additionally, the time to execute the request from start to finish is also included as a way of helping developers identify potential bottlenecks. Here is an example of an updated response log:

Time to Execute: 00h 00m 00s 875ms
Request Method : POST
Request URL    : https://api.srpcs.com/srpteam/users/don
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Status: 201 Created
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
Content-Type: application/hal+json
Content-Length: 129
{
   "URL" : "https://api.srpcs.com/srpteam/users/don",
   "method" : "POST",
   "phrase" : "Created",
   "status" : 201
}