Cross-Network Scripting
I want to start telling the story about how XML and Betty will connect up in Frontier 5.0.2.Goals
Our goal is to raise the level of net scripting in the Frontier environment.
- It should be as easy to call a script residing on another machine as it is to call a script in your own database.
- It should be easy to call code written in Java, running on a Java Virtual Machine, to move information into and out of the Frontier object database.
- It should be easy to connect thru other networking protocols such as DCOM and CORBA.
A teaser
Here's a call to a script that lives on our Betty server:
betty = "betty.userland.com:80" [betty].guestbook.add (user.prefs.mailAddress, user.prefs.homePage, "Hello!")Lifting the hood
Behind the scenes, in the Frontier kernel, that call is being converted to XML, an HTTP request is made to a web server running on betty.userland.com. The result is encoded in XML, but before the script regains control, the value is converted into a native Frontier data type.
So XML is central to the implementation, but hidden from the script writer.
We will publish the spec for the XML we use, but not yet. We want to work with everyone in the software industry on this, and at the same time stay focused on our goal to provide a simple and powerful interface for Frontier users.
Whew! I can't wait until we ship this software. Stay tuned...
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This page was last built on 4/2/98; 3:11:57 PM by David Winer. dave@scripting.com |