Introduction to TWS version 0.1

TWS is a database-driven web server in a self-contained executable. Features include:

The SQL database engine is built into the web server.
Compiles for either Windows or Unix.
Configure the server using a web browser to access built-in web pages. No editing of cryptic configuration files.
Dynamic content is created by putting TCL code within "<%...%>".
Automatic chroot and privilege dropping for added security.
The whole package is self-contained and stand-alone. Just add content to make a working website.

Overview

The goal of TWS is to be both flexible and very easy to use. To this end, the design uses a number of innovative features:

Stand-alone	Everything, both web-server and SQL database engine, is contained in a single executable. So installation is a snap. All you have to do is copy the binary onto the disk drive of the host machine. There are no worries about compatible libraries or DLLs and no hassles setting up and configurating a separate RDBMS.
Secure	By default, the server places itself in a chroot jail and converts to an unprivileged user upon startup. And conservative coding practices are used to make the server resistant to attack.
Cross-platform	TWS can be compiled for either Windows or Unix, so it will probably work on any computer that happens to be at hand. You do not have to have a particular version of a particular operating system to use TWS.
Configurable Online	The TWS web server uses a single human-readable configuration file, but you never need to look at it or edit it. All configuration is done using web-pages that are built into the web server itself.
Extensible	TWS normally serves content from disk, like any other web server. But TWS also contains content in a ZIP archive appended to the TWS executable. You can add new content files to this ZIP archive to implement custom, self-contained, stand-alone web applications.
Embeddable	The core HTTP engine used by TWS is modular and implemented in just two source files. It is very easy to embed this HTTP engine inside another application to give that application the ability to report its status or to be configured dynamically using a web browser.
Lightweight	The TWS web server uses surprising little memory and CPU time. So you don't have to hunt around for a big hefty server to run it on. Any old 486 will probably suffice.

Status

TWS was released as beta on Feb 17, 2001. The same code base has been used internally (behind a firewall) for about a year, so it has been tested. But additional testing on different platforms and under adversarial conditions is needed before it is pronounced "stable".

A change log is available.

Downloading

TWS is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License. You can obtain precompiled executables or source code from the download page on this website.

Documentation

For additional information, visit the pages described below:

Setup	Instructions on how to download, compile, install, and setup the TWS web server.
Programming	Instructions on how to generate dynamic content using TCL scripts embedded in HTML pages.
Commands	Descriptions of useful new TCL commands that are available for use by TCL scripts embedded in HTMLM pages.
FAQ	Frequently Asked Questions about the TWS web server.

This page was last modified on 2001/02/18 18:47:32 GMT