Web server, which component?

[kupferstecher]

Hello,

I'm searching for a component to add embedded webserver functionality to a GUI-application. FPWeb was the first trial I made, using the TFPHttpServer. But I have trouble stopping the webserver without killing the application. When searching around I found a statement by the developer, that this component wasn't intended for productive use...

Then I stumbled over the brook framework, but in forum posts it was said that it has memory leaks when restarting the webserver, its only designed to be started once...

So what component is suitable to create an embedded web server that can be started, stopped and restarted within a GUI-application. SSL and authentification should be possible.

Thanks for some advice!

Regards~

[Renat.Su]

Then I stumbled over the brook framework, but in forum posts it was said that it has memory leaks when restarting the webserver, its only designed to be started once...

It is not clear exactly what kind of leaks when restarting the web service? And which fork of the brook exactly? Brook Framework  or Book For Free Pascal?

[kupferstecher]

Hello Renat,

this is the forum post that I mean:
https://forum.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php/topic,38678.msg264444.html#msg264444

Like I said eerlier, it does have intended memory leaks. I think that author doesn't care about it since by design it will be run just once so even if it leaks, it will be at the program end, which doesn't matter. Now it matters when we want to be able to start and stop the server in a single program indefinitely by some GUI action.

It's from 2017, so things could have changed, of course.

I'm asking here, to get some hints which framework/library is suitable. To avoid starting with an other library that I couldn't get to work. So the fork/framework I did't choose, yet.
Any recommendations are welcome.

[Renat.Su]

Any recommendations are welcome.

So, I recommend https://wiki.freepascal.org/Brook_for_Free_Pascal

[kupferstecher]

OK, thank You!

So embedding it in a GUI-application works with brook?

[Renat.Su]

So embedding it in a GUI-application works with brook?

You can ask the author about using in the GUI https://github.com/risoflora/brookfreepascal/issues

[zamronypj]

Do you want to create GUI application that start stop web server like, for example, XAMPP or do you need to embed dynamically generated HTML based UI in GUI application?

If you want to create GUI application that control how web server started stopped, you can run external brook http application through TProcess.

If you intend to embed dynamic generated HTML-based UI, you can generate HTML string on the fly and let embedded browser load from string (or save it to tmp file and load it). This does not require web server at all. You can also use javascript for this

For example

Code: [Select]

data:text/html,%3Ch1%3EHello%2C%20World!%3C%2Fh1%3E

If you paste URL above, browser will output bold text Hello World!

[kupferstecher]

Hello zamronypj,

the (GUI-) application is for visualization purpose, it includes several interfaces like the serial port, UDP and TCP. The desktop application using LCL shows values and the like, has buttons and so on. By now it's just a desktop application.
Now I want to add some "remote" functionality by adding a web server. The first step would be to provide a screenshot of the application, so the user can check the status from remote by only using a browser. Further steps would be to capture the mouse in the browser with javascript to allow the remote control of the LCL-GUI-application. The application is already quite complex, I couldn't reprogramm it totally as a web-app.

In short: I really need a web server, and the web server has to use data from the LCL-GUI-application, I'm not sure how this could work starting a web server in a (seperate) process.

[silvioprog]

Hi @kupferstecher.

Are you looking for something like this one in the attached picture?  If so, it's a FMX window to start/stop a Brook server, and its source is available here: https://github.com/risoflora/brookframework/tree/master/Examples/FMX. The same example is also available for LCL here: https://github.com/risoflora/brookframework/tree/master/Examples/LCL.

HTH

[kupferstecher]

Hello silvioprog,

that looks good! I'll have a try.

Thanks!

[avra]

The first step would be to provide a screenshot of the application, so the user can check the status from remote by only using a browser. Further steps would be to capture the mouse in the browser with javascript to allow the remote control of the LCL-GUI-application.

Wouldn't VNC server that shares just your app window to clients do the job? Some official VNC servers (with regular or java web server) can share a single window, or you can do it with code.

You can find both server and client for Lazarus here:
https://sourceforge.net/p/dsk/dskvnc/ci/1.0.0.528/tree/

There are also web clients for browsers:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/vnc®-viewer-for-google-ch/iabmpiboiopbgfabjmgeedhcmjenhbla
https://www.tecmint.com/vnc-desktop-access-from-web-browser/
https://novnc.com/info.html

[kupferstecher]

Yes, VNC should do. But then client software has to be installed as well, right?

[avra]

Yes, VNC should do. But then client software has to be installed as well, right?

I have extended my answer.

[kupferstecher]

Thanks, I'll consider that.

But still I want to try to implement it directly (if it doesn't get too much work..).
I tried brook, the server example works, but a DLL is needed. I don't like that too much.
Synapse also comes with a HTTP-server example, it seems a lot of hand work is needed. And I'm not so experienced in networking things.

[Jacob21]

Hi @kupferstecher
I wonder if you found a Web Server Solution.
I have a similar requirement and interested in a direction to go (Windows)
Thank you.