TIC Application Server (TAS) is a NonStop™ Guardian based application providing some webserver functionality. TAS's primary utility is access to Pathway™ serverclasses. A request/reply IPC pair is defined for servers wanting to communicate with web browsers.
Architecture
The TAS - any communications between a variety of clients (such as HTTP browsers, Java applets, or custom client-side applications) and back-end data sources (such as local file systems, databases, existing legacy applications, or other Web servers). Its infrastructure is designed to provide facilities similar to those used by traditional message switches for business-critical applications. Message switches typically handle large volumes of transactions in real-time or near real-time for the world's biggest communications networks, including automatic teller machines, electronic funds transfer, point of sale, stock exchange, and airline reservation systems. In moving this class of applications to an Internet environment, application developers must still provide such facilities traditionally provided by these message switches including:
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Fast, non-blocking interprocess communications
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Load balancing
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Integrated management
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By incorporating the facilities needed for such applications into TAS, the application developer's task is greatly eased. Businesses can therefore focus energies on making legacy data and applications accessible to more users via user-friendly graphical Web interfaces.
Key Features
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HTTP Web Server
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Session Manager
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Interface to TACL
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Interface to Pathway Servers (TAL, COBOL, C, or C++)
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Flexible configuration
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TAS extends the capability of a traditional Web server to include SSP capability via TACL scripts, and several application-specific gateways for accessing legacy or applications. This allows programmers to dynamically build HTML content based on application or database content. In the case of legacy server environments, which are costly to maintain or modify, there is little or no change required to the application in order to grant access via Internet or intranet Web browsers.