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Programmer's Guide Nokia WAP Server API 1.1 page 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17
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2.3 What a servlet is for the Nokia WAP Server
As presented above, a Nokia WAP Server servlet is a piece of software that receives requests from WAP terminals via the Nokia WAP Server and returns responses to them. A servlet can serve many purposes. Some examples are:
- WAP Connector. A servlet provides WAP connectivity to existing application servers. These could be e.g. e-mail systems, process control, logistics, fleet management, etc.
- WAP Filter. Pre- or postprocessor for HTTP services. This type is suitable for integrating to existing web-based services or creating filters that can perform specific tasks for other servlets.
- WAP Application. Application that handles WAP requests and typically provides the reply as a WML response. In this document, a WAP application is a servlet that provides the service directly without an external origin server.
Nokia WAP Server servlets can also be used to enhance the Nokia WAP Server's functionality and provide services for other servlets. This kind of servlets that implement interfaces in the Server Extension API are called server extensions.
2.4 Why write servlets directly for the Nokia WAP Server
WAP services can be implemented in many ways. One way to develop WAP services is to write the application for a web server. In this case, the Nokia WAP Server works as a WAP gateway, using HTTP to connect to the application on the web server. This model works without any additional software on the Nokia WAP Server, and the service is located completely on the web server. However, this approach does not utilise all the information and services that could be used in the development of advanced, secure and user friendly WAP applications.
The Nokia WAP Server provides a platform that can be used to write applications directly on top of the Nokia WAP Server. The major differences to web server application authoring are:
- WAP-specific user and protocol information is available to the servlet.
- Powerful WAP- and Nokia WAP Server-specific functionality is available (bearers, information push, response delivery confirmation).
- Nokia WAP Server provides end-to-end security.
- Web server is not required.
- No additional HTTP communication is required from the Nokia WAP Server to an origin server.
In addition to this, Nokia WAP Server servlets offer an easy environment for communicating directly with origin servers that offer some application domain-specific protocol instead of HTTP. For information on implementing various back-end protocols with Java technology, see [1].
2.5 Installing a servlet for the Nokia WAP Server
Once a WAP service is created as a Java Servlet, it must be installed and configured for the Nokia WAP Server. This includes several steps:
1 Install the servlet with the Nokia WAP Server Manager, which is the management user interface of the Nokia WAP Server. Provide the initial configuration information and the Java classes that implement the servlet (the following figure is an example): Map a specific URL to the installed servlet and define the necessary access control to possibly limit access to your servlet.
Configure the servlet. The Nokia WAP Server Manager provides a generic user interface to modify the configurable properties of servlets.
4 The servlet is now available for WAP terminal users. The servlet can then be accessed with a WAP terminal by selecting a URL that is mapped to the servlet.
For information on how to configure servlets with Java Archive (JAR) files, see the Nokia WAP Server Administration Guide.
Programmer's Guide Nokia WAP Server API 1.1 page 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17
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