Web/Configuration page

Using the tabs on the Web page, you can configure various aspects of the integrated Web server of 4D (security, startup, connections, Web services, etc.). For more information about how the 4D Web server works, refer to the Web Server chapter of the 4D Language Reference manual. For more information about 4D Web services, refer to the Publication and use of Web Services chapter.

Indicates whether the Web server will be launched on startup of the 4D application. This option is described in the Web server configuration and connection management section.

By default, 4D publishes a Web database on the regular Web TCP Port, which is port 80. If that port is already used by another Web service, you need to change the TCP Port used by 4D for this database. Modifying the TCP port allows you to start the 4D Web server under Mac OS X without being the root user of the machine (see Web server configuration and connection management section).

To do so, go to the TCP Port enterable area and indicate an appropriate value (a TCP port not already used by another TCP/IP service running on the same machine).

Note: If you specify 0, 4D will use the default TCP port number 80.

From a Web browser, you need to include that non-default TCP port number into the address you enter for connecting to the Web database. The address must have a suffix consisting of a colon followed by the port number. For example, if you are using the TCP port number 8080, you will specify “123.4.567.89:8080”.

WARNING: If you use TCP port numbers other than the default numbers (80 for standard mode and 443 for SLL mode), be careful not to use port numbers that are defaults for other services that you might want to use simultaneously. For example, if you also plan to use the FTP protocol on your Web server machine, do not use the TCP port 20 and 21, which are the default ports for that protocol (unless you know what you are doing). To find out the standard assignment of TCP port numbers, refer to the Appendix B, TCP Port Numbers section in the documentation of the 4D Internet Commands. Ports numbers below 256 are reserved for well known services and ports numbers from 256 to 1024 are reserved for specific services originated on the UNIX platforms. For maximum security, specify a port number beyond these intervals, for example in the 2000's or 3000's.

You can define the IP address on which the Web server must receive HTTP requests.

By default, the server responds to all IP addresses (All option).

The drop-down list automatically lists all available IP addresses on the machine. When you select a specific address, the server only responds to requests sent to this address. This feature is for 4D Web Servers located on machines with multiple TCP/IP addresses. It is, for example, frequently the case of most Internet host providers. Implementing such a MultiHoming system requires specific configurations on the Web server machine:

• Installing secondary IP addresses on Mac OS

To configure a MultiHoming system on Mac OS:

1. Open the TCP/IP Control Panel.
2. Select the Manually option from the Configuration pop up menu.
3. Create a text file called "Secondary IP Addresses" and save it in the Preferences subfolder of your System folder.
   Each line of the "Secondary IP Addresses" file should contain a secondary IP address and an optional subnet mask and router address for the secondary IP address.

Please check the Apple documentation for more information.

• Installing secondary IP addresses on Windows

To configure a MultiHoming system on Windows:

1. Select the following sequences of commands (or their equivalents according to your version of Windows):
   Start menu > Control Panel > Network and Internet Connections > Network connections > Local Area Connection (Properties) > Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) > Properties button > Advanced... button. The "Advanced TCP/IP Settings" dialog is displayed.
2. Click the Add.... button in the "IP Addresses" area, and add additional IP addresses.

Indicates whether or not the Web server will accept secure connections. This option is described in the Using SSL Protocol section.

Allows you to modify the TCP/IP port number used by the Web server for secured HTTP connections over SSL (HTTPS protocol). By default, the HTTPS port number is set to 443 (standard value).
You may consider changing this port number for two main reasons:

• for security reasons — hacker attacks against Web servers are generally concentrated on standard TCP ports (80 and 443).
• under Mac OS X, in order to allow “standard” users to launch the Web server in a secured mode — under Mac OS X, the use of TCP/IP ports reserved for Web publications (0 to 1023) requires specific access privileges: only the root user can launch an application using these ports. In order for standard users to be able to launch the Web server, one solution is to modify the TCP/IP port number (see the Web server configuration and connection management section).
  You can pass any valid value (in order to avoid access restrictions under Mac OS X, you should pass a value greater than 1023). For more information about TCP port numbers, refer to the “TCP port number” paragraph above.

This option on the "Web/Configuration" page of the Database SEttings lets you control support of requests containing /4DSYNC URLs. These URLs are used for synchronizing data through HTTP ((for more information about this mechanism, refer to URL 4DSYNC/).

This option enables or disables specific processing of requests containing /4DSYNC:

• When it is not checked, /4DSYNC requests are considered as standard requests and do not allow specific processing (using a synchronization request causes a "404 - resource unavailable" type response to be sent).
• When it is checked, the synchronization mechanism is enabled; /4DSYNC requests are considered as special requests and are parsed by the 4D HTTP server.

By default:

• this option is not checked in databases created with 4D beginning with version 13.
• this option is checked in databases converted from a previous version of 4D, for compatibility reasons. We recommend that you deselect it if your application does not use the HTTP replication function. 

The scope of this option is local to the application and the Web server must be restarted to take it into account.

Allows you to define the default location of the Web site files and to indicate the hierarchical level on the disk above which the files will not be accessible. This option is described in the Connection Security section.

You can designate a default home page for all the browsers that connect to the database. This page can be static or semi-dynamic.

By default, when the Web server is launched for the first time, 4D creates a home page named “index.html” and puts it in the HTML root folder. If you do not modify this configuration, any browser connecting to the Web server will obtain the following page:

To modify the default home page, simply replace it in the database root folder with your own “index.html” page or enter the relative access path of the page that you want to define in the “Default Home Page” entry area.
The access path must be set up in relation to the default HTML root folder.
In order to ensure multi-platform compatibility of your databases, the 4D Web server uses particular writing conventions to define access paths. The syntax rules are as follows:

• folders are separated by a slash (“/”)
• the access path must not end with a slash (“/”)
• to “go up” one level in the folder hierarchy, enter “..” (two periods) before the folder name
• the access path must not start with a slash (“/”)

For example, if you want the default home page to be “MyHome.htm”, and it is located in the “Web” folder (itself located in the default HTML root folder of the database), enter “Web/MyHome.htm”.

Note: You can also define a default home page for each Web process by using the routine WEB SET HOME PAGE.

If you do not specify a default custom home page, the On Web Connection Database Method is called. It is up to you to process the request procedurally.