Problems With Scripted Applications

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Problem

The web browser does not launch or launches the incorrect URL

Checklist

1. Check the debugging statements printed in the command-shell window.

When you launch a WebObjects application from the command line, the application computes its own URL, launches the web browser, and enters the URL in the browser. It prints messages about the values it computes to standard output.

Check the standard output (the command-shell window) for these messages (among others):

Corrective action:

If you see these messages but your web browser doesn't launch, you might not have a browser installed on your system, or WebObjects cannot find the browser. This is always true on Solaris and HP-UX. If the URL looks correct (as described below), open your browser and type that URL into it.

If you see a message that says "No Adaptor URL in WebServerConfig.plist," either the WebServerConfig.plist file is missing, or the WOAdaptorURL key is missing from it. The file should look something like this:

If WOAdaptorURL is missing, the web browser does not launch when you launch a WebObjects application. You can enter WOAdaptorURL or you can type the URL in the browser and connect to the running application that way.

This base URL value of WOAdaptorURL is of the form:

cgi-bin is the name of your HTTP server's cgi-bin directory. You specify this name when you configure your HTTP server. The cgi-bin directory name is often cgi-bin , but it may have a different name. For example, the Microsoft Internet Information Server uses the name Scripts .

WebObjects is the name of the WebObjects CGI adaptor as you see it in your HTTP server's cgi-bin directory. Usually, the name is WebObjects. If you're using Windows NT, the adaptor name might be WebObjects.exe (however, some older Netscape servers don't use the .exe extension.)

If the base URL's cgi-bin and WebObjects adaptor names look correct, consider the localhost value. On most sites, localhost accesses the server on the local host. However, some sites require a domain name as well ( http://localhost.apple.com ). If your HTTP server isn't running on your local machine, use the host name of the machine running the server in place of "localhost" in the URL above, and make sure a WebObjects adaptor is installed on that machine.

Problem

A simple scripted application won't run properly.

Checklist

1. Try using direct-connect to access your WebObjects application.
2. Check that you can load a static page.

Corrective action:

If your browser displays a message saying that it was unable to connect or that the connection was refused, your HTTP server is probably not running. Check that your server is running. Otherwise, see Checking the Installation for information on how to fix your installation of WebObjects.

1. Check that the WebObjects adaptor is functioning.

Check that the WebObjects adaptor is installed correctly and can run. Use your browser to open this URL (which specifies the WebObjects adaptor, but fails to specify an application name):

(You may need to replace "localhost" with the name of the host running your HTTP server. You may also need to replace "cgi-bin" with the actual name of the directory that contains scripts and CGI programs on your server.) If the WebObjects adaptor is installed correctly, it returns the following error message:

If the adaptor is installed incorrectly or can't run, the browser will instead display a message indicating that the requested object cannot be located. The message may look like this:

Corrective action:

Make sure you've supplied the right names in the URL for the host ("localhost" in the example above) and for the cgi-bin directory (sometimes named "Scripts" or "cgiPrograms" rather than "cgi-bin"). Otherwise, see Checking the Installation for information on how to fix your installation of WebObjects.