Run BASIC and external programs

[wurlde]

Is there a way to call external exe's from Run BASIC?

if not, could it be implemented? maybe like some sort of CGI, using stdin and stdout to exchange information between RB and the CGI, or using environment vars...

this can be used to add several features to RB

[turbov21]

wurlde said:

this can be used to add several features to RB

And to both/ Liberty BASIC and/or Just BASIC.

[wurlde]

well, in Liberty BASIC you can call RUN (as I've seen here www.libertybasicuniversity.com/lb4help/L64YX_.htm) , also, it seems you can call API functions (http://www.libertybasicuniversity.com/lb4help/T.0URV.htm) and, if implementation is complete (I don't know, I don't have LB) you can call shell functions, like ShellExecute (in shell32.dll)...

In Just BASIC also has the RUN, but I'm not sure it can use 'open "kernel32" for dll as #kernel' and similar, but the RUN wisely used, and two or three exes can be more than enough

RB has also a RUN command, but it seems it can only executes other projects contained within RB

[turbov21]

I can that there might be some security issues with RUN as you're describing it (and as I agree, we need), but I think the benefits far outweigh the risks...especially since those risks are only for people serving files over the web, but the benefits are for everyone running RB.

[carlgundel]

turbov21 said:

I can that there might be some security issues with RUN as you're describing it (and as I agree, we need), but I think the benefits far outweigh the risks...especially since those risks are only for people serving files over the web, but the benefits are for everyone running RB.

The security risks of a RUN command are overblown. Someone might suggest that visitors to the server can invoke executables by passing something in a URL. They won't be able to unless the Run BASIC programmer specifically designs the web application to do that.

-Carl

[wurlde]

so, this kind of "RUN" is going to be in some future version?

[carlgundel]

wurlde said:

so, this kind of "RUN" is going to be in some future version?

I do plan to add this. I'm not sure how cross platform it will be.

-Carl

[wurlde]

i thought RB personal server only worked with MS-OS'es

but if not, using the CGI architecture, could be portable (and also, there're plenty of free sample implementations in other servers, quite hard in terms of work, but at last, somewhere to take ideas to ease the job)

[carlgundel]

wurlde said:

i thought RB personal server only worked with MS-OS'es

We are working on versions for OS X and Linux.

but if not, using the CGI architecture, could be portable (and also, there're plenty of free sample implementations in other servers, quite hard in terms of work, but at last, somewhere to take ideas to ease the job)

Thanks.

-Carl

[mackrackit]

wurlde said:

i thought RB personal server only worked with MS-OS'es

My whole set up is running happily on/in a Linux box with wine. Even the LB part of some of the applications I am playing with. ;D

[wurlde]

well, Wine is a kind of windows emulator for Linux...

so it's a MS based architecture, it's like having RB working within VMWare with MS-OS installed on it...

well, meanwhile, I think I'll investigate the 'daemon' option...

[billw]

Wine is not an emulator. That's why they call it Wine. It's an open implementation of the documented Win32 API, running on top of Linux, that can (usually) run unpatched binary files compiled on Windows. Using Windows via VMware is a completely different scenario, involving emulation of a completely separate computer.

Hope that clears things up.

[wurlde]

well, that's why I said "kind of" and didn't call it an emulator

I don't want to write a large post explaining anything about wine (I've used it), vmware (I'm using it) and so (I've tested a few more), but, in this case, I don't think it's a completely different scenario, RB is a W32 native application, and both ways serve the purpose to run non-native linux (or non ELF) apps on it, only change the way they do it.

I know it's a very simply way to put it, but this thread was about running external apps, and not about deploy environments (using wine to deploy RB is a seed for another interesting thread)

[turbov21]

carlgundel said:

The security risks of a RUN command are overblown. Someone might suggest that visitors to the server can invoke executables by passing something in a URL. They won't be able to unless the Run BASIC programmer specifically designs the web application to do that.

Please do pardon my paranoia. I'm so used to dealing with people's personal information, trying to make sure attackers don't get to it, I tend to enter Batman-mode when thinking about anything web related.

You are absolutely, right, though.