Building a Web Application

Stored processes are frequently used in Web-based applications. While almost any stored process can be executed through a Web interface, the typical Web application design might require special techniques. This section and the following sections document special issues you might encounter when building a Web application.

Web applications are typically implemented by streaming output stored processes. Streaming output stored processes deliver their output through the _WEBOUT fileref. You can write directly to the _WEBOUT fileref using PUT statements or use the Output Delivery System (ODS) to generate output. The example code throughout this section demonstrates both approaches. Streaming output is only supported by the stored process server: the workspace server is not an appropriate host for many Web applications.

Web applications can be implemented using the SAS Stored Process Web Application, the Stored Process Service API or a combination of both. The SAS Stored Process Web Application is a Java middle-tier application that executes stored processes on behalf of a Web client. Only SAS and HTML programming skills are required; no Java programming is required. Most of the examples in the remainder of this section assume the use of the SAS Stored Process Web Application. The Stored Process Service API enables the Java developer to embed stored processes within a Java Web application.