Getting Started with Net.data

• The first requirement is that you have an Apache HTTP server for serving your Net.data pages. If you already have an Apache HTTP server then it must be configured to support the Net.data CGI interface. A basic Apache configuration for Net.data would consist of a location container and a ScriptAlias directive as follows - <Location ~ "^/cgi"> Order Allow,Deny Allow From all UserID %%SERVER%% </Location> ScriptAliasMatch ^/cgi/(.*) /QSYS.LIB/CGIBIN.LIB/DB2WWW.PGM/$ You can find the configuration file for an Apache HTTP server that has a skeleton setup for serving Net.data pages here Apache config for Net.data
• The cgi string in the Location container means you could request a Net.data page named mypage with a url like - http://yourhost/cgi/mypage/macro It is recommended that you create a separate library for each Net.data configuration, (you can have multiple). It is common to give this library a name like CGIBIN. Although any library will suffice, it is recommended that it be reserved for objects to be used by the HTTP server. To get started, the only object needed in library CGIBIN (or whatever you called it) is the program DB2WWW, which is the essential Net.data interface. It is necessary to duplicate this program from QHTTPSVR/DB2WWW. Check that *PUBLIC has *USE authority to it.
• The next requirement is to create an INI file for your Net.data configuration. The content for a basic Net.data INI file described below. You can view this file at Basic Net.data INI file. The INI file allows you to specify the path which Net.data should use to locate your Net.data pages. The INI file is simply a regular source physical file which must reside in the library that was specified on the ScriptAlias directive. It must have a source member named DB2WWW. If the name you have chosen for your CGI library is CGIBIN then the INI file can be created as follows - CRTSRCPF FILE(CGIBIN/INI) RCDLEN(240) MBR(DB2WWW) NOTE: RCDLEN(240) is optimal but you can make it longer if you need to accomodate entries longer than this. IMPORTANT: Because the HTTP server must have access to the INI file then you must ensure that the HTTP server user profile, QTMHHTP1 (or *PUBLIC) has *USE authority to it, otherwise Net.data requests will fail. The Net.data INI file is free format text. You should insert at least one directive into the INI file. That is the MACRO_PATH directive which states the path to your Net.data pages. Let us assume that your Net.data pages will reside in an IFS folder named mydemo within the /home folder. Therefore you can edit your INI file using either SEU or EDTF to add the following directive - MACRO_PATH /home/mydemo In fact you could append multiple search paths separated with a semi-colon. At some stage you will probably be wanting to take advantage of the copy source feature for including code that is commonly used so you should also add a companion to the MACRO_PATH directive which is the INCLUDE_PATH. It usually set to the same value - INCLUDE_PATH /home/mydemo It should be noted that INI file directives can be changed without having to reboot the Apache server. Because Net.data defaults to using SQL naming convention for qualifying file names, you should also add the following directive - DTW_SQL_NAMING_MODE SYSTEM_NAMING This means that you can use the usual forward slash instead of a dot when you want to specify a qualified name. e.g. MYLIB/MYFILE instead of MYLIB.MFILE Another directive that proves useful is that which turns off commitment control for running SQL statements, as this can be troublesome if left on by default. DTW_SQL_ISOLATION = DTW_SQL_NO_COMMIT
• A full description of all the INI file directives that can be configured can be found in Chapter 2 of the Net.Data Administration and Programming Guide for OS/400 Now you should be ready to create Net.data pages.