Local HTTP Server CDs

The default and recommended type of CD to use with dtSearch Publish is the Standard type.

A Local Server CD uses an HTTP server to provide the browser interface.  When the CD is inserted, the local HTTP server starts, and Internet Explorer is launched to open the home page for the CD.  

This type of CD has a significant disadvantage: the HTTP server may trigger warning messages, or may be blocked, by firewall software. For the CD to work, the firewall software has to be configured to allow the HTTP server to "access the internet".  The local HTTP server does not really access anything outside of the local machine, but because it communicates with the web browser using HTTP, some firewall software treats it as if it were accessing the internet.  The Windows Firewall may pop up a warning message when the local HTTP server starts.

For Local HTTP Server CDs, you can use either the HTTP server that comes with dtSearch Publish, dts_svr.exe, or another product, Microweb.

Startup

When the CD is inserted, the autorun.inf file on the CD will start the cdrun.exe program on the CD.  The cdrun.exe program will then do the following:

(1) Check the cdrun.xml file to get configuration settings

(2) Check that the computer has any required dependencies.  These are listed in the cdrun.xml file.  If a dependency is not present, the file in browserError.html is launched to prompt the user to get a newer browser version.

(3) Start the HTTP server and then launch the home page for the CD (index.html) in the user's web browser.  When the browser is closed, the HTTP server will stop automatically.

CD Layout

Assuming that a CD master folder is created in c:\sample, the following sub-folders will be created when the CD Wizard sets up the CD:

Folder	Contents
c:\sample\root\cgi-bin	dtSearch Web program files
c:\sample\root\data	Documents and indexes

System Requirements

Windows version:  Windows XP SP 3 or later.

Internet Explorer version:  Internet Explorer 6 or later is required to enable hit navigation and hit highlighting to work. 

Adobe Reader version:  A PDF viewer that supports highlighting hits is required or PDF files will appear without hit highlighting.  For information on PDF viewers that support hit highlighting, please see PDF viewers that support highlighting hits.

Firewalls:  If the system has a firewall installed, the program dts_svr.exe on the CD may have to be given permission to access the internet.  

HTTP Server

The HTTP server is dts_svr.exe, a localhost-only HTTP server that runs on a unique port number, so it will not interfere with any other HTTP servers that may be running on the computer when the CD is inserted.  A configuration file, dts_svr.ini, has option settings to control the behavior of the HTTP server (for example, to specify the browser to open when the CD starts).  Documentation on these options is included in the dts_svr.ini file.

dtSearch Web interfaces with the HTTP server using the dtcgi2is.exe utility, which the CD Wizard sets up along with dtSearch Web.  dtcgi2is.exe translates dtSearch Web's ISAPI interface into a CGI interface, so dtSearch Web can be run as a CGI program.  dtcgi2is.exe maps virtual directories to local directories for dtSearch Web using the root folder provided in an XML configuration file, dtcgi2is.xml.

Dependencies

If your content requires a current browser version, plug-ins, or other software that must be installed, you can use the Dependencies entries in the cdrun.xml file to have your CD install these as needed.