I understand all about API commands and instructions. What I need is how to
package those commands so that they can be delivered from a dos prompt
or windows program. The answer or results are then returned as an
HTML page which I need to be able to receive/capture for processing.
We have seen programs that do this as part of a larger more
complicated task. We are not interested in using them for a work a
round, that is what we are doing now. We need something that we can
customize to do it exactly our way.
I have been told I can use IIS but I do not have access to that program.
The responsive answer is either, "Use this program (open source)" or
a step by step set of working instructions using, PHP or??. If your answer
involves some other programming language or software, please check
with me before proceeding to confirm that we have access and
experience in it. |
Request for Question Clarification by
efn-ga
on
06 Oct 2004 00:45 PDT
Hi coloradotom,
Sorry, I don't understand your question. With some more information,
I may be able to tell whether I can help you.
There are lots of software components with different APIs in the
world. What component or components are you talking about using?
Generally, a script or compiled program uses an API. Do you want a
person to be able to run a program as a Windows user and the program
to use some API to do something? Or should a web server run the
program in response to an HTTP request?
Let's say we have a person running a program that uses an API. Now
you want an HTML page. Will the API produce it? Should the program
compose it from information it gets from the API? Where should the
HTML page be delivered? Should it be sent to another process on the
same system, displayed to the person running the program, written in a
disk file, or sent out over a network to a client program somewhere
else?
If you can provide more information, someone here may be able to help you.
--efn
|
Clarification of Question by
coloradotom-ga
on
06 Oct 2004 12:33 PDT
Let me approach the question from a different angle.
Dynamic real time data is available to me by sending API commmands in
the form of HTTP:commands to a web site, which will process the
request and deliver a standardized format as a reply. For instance if
I enter the following in a brower I could get the following answer.
http://www.fu-bar.com/info.asp?ID=tom&Item1=Apples&Item2=Oranges
and the response back in the form of a 'web page' in the brouser would be:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for inquiring about our delicious fresh fruits, the prices
and quantities are as listed below.
Item1=Apples
Price1=1.00
Item2=Oranges
Price2=3.00
These prices will be good for 30 minutes if you wish to place an order.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I would need to receive this answer page above and then I can process
the informaton as I need to.
Obviously the above is a fictional example.
What I am looking for is a way of sending and receiving the query and
response without having to hand type each one in the browser.
Please let me know if that gives you enough info?
|
Request for Question Clarification by
efn-ga
on
06 Oct 2004 21:16 PDT
Thanks for the clarification, it did help, but I still have questions.
I understand that you are looking for a program that can send a fixed
HTTP request and capture the response. I still don't understand what
is to be done with the response. You say it should be delivered to
you, but how? Should it be written to a file, written to a database,
sent to another process, or sent to another computer?
The other question is about what kind of solution you seek. It looks
like you are looking for either an open source program you can
customize or a script in the answer to your question. This would rule
out a closed source product or just a recommendation on technology to
use as answers to your question. Is this accurate?
I should warn you that even after I understand your question well
enough, I may not be able to come up with a satisfactory answer. But
it's in your interest to clarify it anyway, in case someone else can
help.
Thanks,
--efn
|
