Re: [LHA-misc] Web interface ...

[C. R. B. I. <cr...@ea...>]

From:           	Neil Cherry <nc...@ho...>
Organization:   	Linux Home Automation
To:             	LHA-misc <Lin...@li...>
Subject:        	[LHA-misc] Web interface ...
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Date sent:      	Fri, 25 May 2001 20:30:23 -0400

> Since it's been raining and slowed my training down a bit (I've got a
> 100 mile ride, tomorrow, in the rain and "boomers") I've spent a little
> time working on a web interface to HA. This initial version uses Apache,
> PHP, HTML, JavaScript (very little but I'm working on that) and
> HomeDaemon-dump. I haven't started working on the security or user
> verification yet but I will (I have examples and need to think it
> through further). I may post the code to be played with in the next week
> (I need the instructions).
> 
> Anyone want to comment on what they think is a good web interface. Normally
> I don't like web interface because they're just links and a form box. This
> one isn't much better except that I use PHP to update the table dynamically
> so we think we know the state of the device (it's X10 'ya know'). I'll
> further expand the PHP/JavaScript/HTML code further to include the weather
> station, Ocelot, and the HCS II. All of this is going into the contest
> for Aug. Though I don't think I can win I will attempt to put on a good
> show. I think the work can become an article for one of the magazines.
 
I suggest Perl for the initial effort rather than PHP. 
Perl's cross-platform. That includes Perl/Tk, which is potentially 
the same widget-set design expressed on the local desktop rather than 
in a browser, talking through sockets if the command hardware's 
running on a different machine. Perl's module set will probably allow 
you to extend down further into daemon-land for rapid prototyping. 
Perl/db supports source-level stepping of your code. Setting the -w 
switch causes Perl to dump its complaints into your Apache error-log 
when it's talking through the CGI, so you don't have to scoop them 
off a rapidly moving screen or peek into commented-out sprintfs in 
'view page source' to catch anything.

Perl is close enough to C in syntax and expression to make it 
relatively easy to push the design down into compiled C once it's 
firm.

> -- 
> Linux Home Automation           Neil Cherry             nc...@ho...
> http://members.home.net/ncherry                         (Text only)
> http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/lightsey/52           (Graphics)
> http://linuxha.sourceforge.net/				(SourceForge)
> 
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