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What's New in Application Dispatcher Version?
Version 1.2
October 8, 1998
SAS/IntrNet Server
The SAS/IntrNet Server, Version 1.2 package is now available. Included in the package are the SAS program files for the Xplore sample application, Version 1.2 and the MDDB Report Viewer, Version 1.2. The Application Server component of the SAS/IntrNet
Server package is unchanged and remains at Version 1.1.
Application Broker
The Application Broker package has been updated to include the HTML files that support the new releases of Xplore and MDDB Report Viewer. The Broker functionality remains unchanged.
Xplore Documentation
In addition to providing an updated Xplore sample, we have also added setup and usage documentation for Xplore.
Version 1.1 for MVS
June 25, 1998
Application Dispatcher for MVS
The production release of Application Dispatcher (both the server and Broker components) is now available for MVS. You cannot download this release from the Web site, but if you are interested in receiving a copy, Version 1.1 is provided with the June
Usage Notes.
Most of the documentation that is provided for Application Dispatcher also applies to the Application Server on MVS. However some exceptions do apply. These exceptions are documented in Application Server Notes for MVS.
Version 1.0
July 24, 1997
Application Server Enhancements
The following enhancements were made to Application Server, Version 1.0.
- The reset.sas server
administration program now includes the NOCENTER option.
- All server administration programs are sent with a
Progma: No-cache HTTP header, which means that the browser does not cache the results of the administration programs.
- When using the
launch service,
the results from your Dispatcher program are now streamed back to the browser as the program generates output.
- Debugging your Dispatcher Applications is now easier because
we store the name/value pair data that is passed from the
Broker to the Application Server in the SAS log.
Application Broker Enhancements
The following enhancements were made to Application Dispatcher, Version 1.0.
Dispatcher Samples
We have added more complex samples for you to use
as models for your Dispatcher Applications. See
The Sample Applications for a description of the samples provided with this release.
Problem Fixes
The following enhancements fix problems that some users encountered using the beta release of Application Dispatcher.
Application Server Fixes
- The permdata.sas and autoexec.sas server administration programs
have been modified to correct a program halt in the Application Server.
- The STATUS Server administration program now returns the
correct number of operating hours when that number exceeds 99 hours.
- The beta release of the Application Server for Windows NT, the server attempted to open the wrong socket when returning results to the Application Broker. This caused the Broker to appear hung or generate a timeout error. The Application Server in SA
S/IntrNet software, Version 1.0 fixes this problem.
Application Broker Fixes
- Occasionally, the attempt to reopen a socket by the
Application Broker would fail causing data to be lost. The Application Dispatcher in SAS/IntrNet software, Version 1.0 fixes this problem.
- The _DEBUG=4 debug flag now prints the values of all configuration file directives.
- The beta release of the Application Broker for Windows 95 did not work properly if you supplied an IP address for your servers. This has been fixed. You can now use IP addresses with Windows 95.
- Error handling in the Broker has been improved so that you receive either a timeout message or a writing to socket error message when your SasBin contains an invalid command or you have specified an invalid TmpDir in your
Broker configuration file.
March 13, 1997 (beta release)
On-Demand Application Servers
Application Dispatcher can now process information from an HTML file to a SAS session that is launched upon request. This provides an alternative to sending information through to a dedicated SAS session.
Multiple Servers
We now provide the ability for you to use multiple servers and adjust the chances of a particular server being selected. This is referred to as load balancing.
Application Server Enhancements
We included socket patches for additional platforms and enhanced performance of the MDDB Report Viewer, a Dispatcher application. We also included the following enhancements:
- HTML output now streams back to the browser.
- Graphics and text HTML can now be sent to the _WEBOUT fileref. Although the fileref _GRPHOUT is no longer needed, it is still available for compatibility.
- Additional Server Administration Programs were added.
- Much less output is written to the SAS log window by default. This reduces the chance of filling up the log and halting the server.
- The server now compares versions with the Broker and notes when inconsistent versions are used.
- The server includes improved error messaging.
Application Broker Enhancements
- We removed all limits on the size of the request that can be sent to the Application Server. The previous limit was 32K. This change required a new protocol for socket services and renders the new Broker incompatible with earlier versions of the Appli
cation Server. To ease the transition, we added a compatibility option. To use it, add this line to the service definition of all Application Servers running old code:
ServiceCompatibility 1.0alpha3
If further compatibility issues arise, we will use this directive. Although you can specify the current version in this directive, it is redundant and ignored.
- We changed the code to remove an extension or suffix of .EXE from the CGI program and replaced it with .CFG to create the configuration file, which will be consistent with current and future platforms.
- If the Broker configuration file is not found in the Web server's current directory (usually the same directory where the CGI program is installed), the Broker now looks in /usr/local/lib/IntrNet/broker/ (UNIX) or C:\ (Windows).
You can change this directory by setting the BROKER_ROOT environment variable to a different directory name (including the trailing slash) before the Web server is started.
- We added the LaunchService, SasBin, SasOpts, InitCmd, and TmpDir directives to support on-demand (launch) Application Servers. See the template
configuration file for a short description and example. Also note the expanded descriptions of some other directives.
- We renamed the Timeout directive to ServiceTimeout.
- You can now specify a range of port numbers in the Port directive. For example,
Server myserver.corp.com
Port 5000-5009
defines 10 ports on myserver. This has exactly the same effect as listing them one by one.
- We changed some _DEBUG flags and added new ones. Changes include a new flag to control whether the server and port number display in the status message. (Some sites may not want to display that information for security reasons.) Also, we expanded the
_DEBUG=2 flag to show the Powered by SAS logo and the Broker build number in addition to the elapsed time.
- We implemented timeouts under Windows. Although highly unlikely, you might still be able to lock up an instance of the Broker if an Application Server goes down at just the right time.
- We added a new message to detect when users forget to include the
NAME= attribute on an input field, which is a common error.
- We made various internal changes to prepare for new platforms for the server and the Broker.
Dispatcher and HTML Formatting Tools
The Application Dispatcher can be used with, but does not require, the HTML Formatting Tools. These tools include the HTML Output Formatter (for SAS procedure output), the HTML Data Set Format
ter (for SAS data sets), and the HTML Tabulate Formatter.
Dispatcher Documentation Enhancements
We expanded the documentation to reflect the new features, included more information about sample Dispatcher applications, and provided additional detail about configuration options.
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