How does it work? Is it Server Side Scripting ?

[mel3]

I'm very interested in Run Basic but am confused about how it works before I buy it.

1 - Is it server side scripting like ASP?
2 - Must you "install" a basic iinterpreter on a IIS, a Windows Web Server?
... Or what?
... Or is it something we just ftp up to our regular web site?
... If so will we need an OK from our host or isp?
3 - How extensive is the language?
... can we create or access an online data base?
... any problems with multiple users using the application all at the same time? limits as to how many at once?
... can you create interactive and clickable online applications or simple games?
4 - Very excited about runing on Cell Phone Browsers... what restrictions are there if any?
... Is there a demo cell phone app running on line that we can access from our cell phone?
5 - Which browsers will it work with? Only Microsoft? Or any?
6 - Linux and Apple are mentioned...
... does that mean the "client" or "user" must now be running Windows?
... Or does it mean that the internet server must be running windows?
7 - Finally... Do I understand that there is no "virtual machine" that must be installed on the users machine... like Flash or dot Net or Java VM ?
... How does this work?

Thanks for any comments as this looks like a good product but we need to understand more about how it will work and how much it will do.

Thanks.

[carlgundel]

mel3 said:

I'm very interested in Run Basic but am confused about how it works before I buy it.

1 - Is it server side scripting like ASP?

It is server side, but you create your program much more like you would a desktop app.

2 - Must you "install" a basic iinterpreter on a IIS, a Windows Web Server?
... Or what?

Run BASIC is a standalone web server with a built-in BASIC language application platform. It can be proxied behind Apache or some other webserver (like IIS perhaps).

... Or is it something we just ftp up to our regular web site?
... If so will we need an OK from our host or isp?

You can either host it on a PC of your own, or if your ISP permits you can install it on their hardware.

3 - How extensive is the language?

It's pretty solid. Run BASIC comes with a built-in XML parser. It can fetch documents using HTTP. Is has SQLite capability. It can draw graphics right out of box. You can make any program into an object/component that can be rendered into a page. There is a simple scheme for adding CSS to your apps to pretty them up. See the online docs at www.runbasic.com/rbhelp.html

... can we create or access an online data base?

Run BASIC comes with built-in SQLite functionality so you can write database apps. We are planning a more "Pro" level version that can also connect to the popular standalone databases.

... any problems with multiple users using the application all at the same time? limits as to how many at once?

Shouldn't be an issue as long as you open and close the database connection just long enough to perform each query. This is a v1.0 though so...

... can you create interactive and clickable online applications or simple games?

Yes to both.

4 - Very excited about runing on Cell Phone Browsers... what restrictions are there if any?

I think that's more a question about the cell phones themselves and what sort of web browsers they run. Or are you talking about actually coding from a web browser. I wouldn't recommend that.

... Is there a demo cell phone app running on line that we can access from our cell phone?

Not yet. Good idea. Any volunteers?

5 - Which browsers will it work with? Only Microsoft? Or any?

It works with IE, Firefox and Safari. It might work with Opera, but I haven't tried it yet.

6 - Linux and Apple are mentioned...
... does that mean the "client" or "user" must now be running Windows?
... Or does it mean that the internet server must be running windows?

The server must run on Windows for now, unless you want to run Wine. See runbasicrun.blogspot.com/

7 - Finally... Do I understand that there is no "virtual machine" that must be installed on the users machine... like Flash or dot Net or Java VM ?
... How does this work?

Run BASIC comes with its own runtime support. It's an all-in-one installation and doesn't need anything else. Flash isn't needed since all the UI generation is done with XHTML. We are planning some Ajax-style enhancements in future releases.

Thanks for any comments as this looks like a good product but we need to understand more about how it will work and how much it will do.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

-Carl

[mel3]

Carl, Thanks for all the great info! A few more questions...
1 - Running as a Web App... can it save data to the Client/User machine?
... Such as answers to a quiz... or final score... or game scores... or whatever?
... If so how? Can it simply create a file on the client machine or must it save the data in a Cookie or something lime a "flash Cookie" ?
2 - How hard would it be to 'port' a Run Basic Web App to a "Stand-Alone" Application... so that it could be offered either way... online or stand alone (when no internet connection is available) ??
3 - While I've written a little HTML and ASP... I have never setup a server or proxy server...
... I assume we must have a fixed ip address to host... right?
... Do you have good doc's on how to set the host PC? How to setup a 'Proxy' or whatever?
... XP Pro comes with IIS... doesn't it?
... So all we need is a machine running XP Pro with IIS on it... right?
... Or a Linux Server running Apache and Wine (Windows Emulator)... right?

Thanks again Carl. This really is quite an interesting project.

[carlgundel]

mel3 said:

Carl, Thanks for all the great info! A few more questions...
1 - Running as a Web App... can it save data to the Client/User machine?
... Such as answers to a quiz... or final score... or game scores... or whatever?

No.

... If so how? Can it simply create a file on the client machine or must it save the data in a Cookie or something lime a "flash Cookie" ?

We need some sort of cookies support. It's not there yet.

2 - How hard would it be to 'port' a Run Basic Web App to a "Stand-Alone" Application... so that it could be offered either way... online or stand alone (when no internet connection is available) ??

That depends entirely on the app. Since LB and RB share a lot in common you might manage it. On the other hand RB does some things that LB cannot do and vice versa.

3 - While I've written a little HTML and ASP... I have never setup a server or proxy server...
... I assume we must have a fixed ip address to host... right?

No. You can use Dynamic DNS to host using a dynamic IP address. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_dns

... Do you have good doc's on how to set the host PC? How to setup a 'Proxy' or whatever?

That would depend on the web server of course. I do host the Run BASIC site behind Apache. I can whip up some instructions about how I do that. Gimme a day or so.

... XP Pro comes with IIS... doesn't it?

Can't say I know any thing about IIS. Looks like I'm about to learn, eh?

... So all we need is a machine running XP Pro with IIS on it... right?

Or Apache. That's free and runs on Windows.

... Or a Linux Server running Apache and Wine (Windows Emulator)... right?

That works too.

Thanks again Carl. This really is quite an interesting project.

I think so.

-Carl

[billw]

Another interesting option for offline support would be to use Google Gears. Of course, a reliable JS/RB transport layer would be necessary first, and I haven't found a way to completely automate the process yet. Maybe soon...

When LB5 gets released, it might be possible to keep the application code in a module, and just write different UIs for Web and Desktop. How's that for code portability?