Rexx Programmer's Reference

Chapter 17. Web Programming with CGI and Apache

Overview

Rexx is well-suited to Web programming because it excels at string manipulation. Web programming requires reading and interpreting string input and creating textual output. As in the next chapter on XML, the emphasis is on string processing. Rexx string processing strengths recommend it as a highly productive, easy-to-maintain language for Web programming.

There are many ways to program Web servers and build Web pages with Rexx. Two popular technologies are the Common Gateway Interface, or CGI, and Apache's Mod_Rexx interface.

First, we describe some of the tools available for CGI programming. CGI was one of the first popular Web server interfaces because it is easy to use and fully programmable.

Then we describe scripting Apache through its Rexx interface, Mod_Rexx. Apache is the world's most popular Web server. Mod_Rexx gives you complete scripting control over Apache. With it you can efficiently and effectively serve Web pages created by Rexx scripts. You can also dynamically create Web pages through a feature called Rexx Server Pages, or RSP. Dynamic Web pages are created and tailored in real time to meet user needs.

Common Gateway Interface

The Common Gateway Interface, or CGI specification lets Web servers execute user programs to produce Web pages containing text, graphics, forms, audio, and other information. The CGI interface allows Rexx scripts to control and drive the Web server in its provisioning of Web pages to the ...