Chapter 21: Web Programming with IntraWeb

Overview

Since Delphi 2 days, Chad Z. Hower has been building a Delphi architecture for simplifying the development of web applications, with the idea of making web programming as simple and as visual as standard Delphi form programming. Some programmers are fully acquainted with dynamic HTML, JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets, and the latest Internet technologies. Other programmers just want to build web applications in Delphi the way they build VCL or CLX applications.

IntraWeb is intended for this second category of developers, although it is so powerful that even expert web programmers can benefit from its use. In Chad's words, IntraWeb is for building web applications, not websites. Moreover, IntraWeb components can be used in a specific application, or they can be used in a WebBroker or WebSnap program.

In this chapter I cannot cover every detail of IntraWeb—with 50 components installed on Delphi's palette and several module designers, it's a very large library. My plan is to cover its foundations, so that you can choose whether to use it for your forthcoming projects or for portions of those projects, as it fits best.

Tip

For documentation on IntraWeb, refer to the PDF manuals on the Delphi 7 Companion CD. If you cannot find them, these manuals are also available on Atozed Software's website for download. For support on IntraWeb, refer to the Borland newsgroups.

Note

This chapter has had a special review by Chad Z. Hower, a.k.a. "Kudzu," the original author and project coordinator for Internet Direct (Indy; see Chapter 19, "Internet Programming: Sockets and Indy") and author of IntraWeb. Chad's areas of specialty include TCP/IP networking and programming, interprocess communication, distributed computing, Internet protocols, and object-oriented programming. When not programming, he likes to cycle, kayak, hike, downhill ski, drive, and do just about anything outdoors. Chad also posts free articles, programs, utilities, and other oddities at Kudzu World at http://www.Hower.org/Kudzu/. Chad is an American expatriate who currently spends his summers in St. Petersburg, Russia, and his winters in Limassol, Cyprus. Chad can be reached at cpub@Hower.org.