Web site on a disk
 
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There could be all sorts of reasons why you might want to provide a Web site on a CD-ROM.
For example, it might be that the target user has a low-bandwidth connection or no connection at all. It might be that the content to be distributed is sensitive, and you and the user don't want it transported across the 'Net.
Whatever the reason, there are a couple of systems that allow you to put a Web site on a CD along with a minimal local server, such that more than just static content can be delivered.
Of all the tools for this that I've seen so far for building these systems under Windows, the most promising looks to be Dynamic-CD from PHD Computer Consultants (www.phdcc.com/).
Dynamic-CD includes a CD-based, locally launched HTTP server that can handle Microsoft ASP scripting (the system requires IE 4+ for scripting support) through a proprietary scripting language called GASP - essentially an emulation of Active Server Pages (ASP).
Scripting allows for handling Form and Query data, incorporating ActiveX components, setting and retrieving cookies, and handling session variables.
Because the server is running locally, GASP can do things that ASP can't, such as support user-interface calls like MsgBox to display a message to the user.
In fact, Dynamic-CD's scripting is powerful enough, the authors claim, to support the Comersus shopping-cart system we discussed in the last Web Applications newsletter.
Dynamic-CD offers database access, password protection of scripts, and content encryption. No installation is required on the target machine.
A variety of licenses are available, ranging from rights to distribute 200 Dynamic-CD disks for $150, up to a license for unlimited distribution for one year (or 7,500 copies over more than one year) for $1,500. A demo version is available: www.phdcc.com/dynamic-cd/licence.asp
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Mark Gibbs is a consultant, author, journalist, and columnist. He writes the weekly Backspin and Gearhead columns in Network World.
Mark Gibbs is a consultant, author, journalist, and columnist. He writes the weekly Backspin and Gearhead columns in Network World. Gibbs is also co-conspirator of the Vitally Important Information Web site.
Gibbs can be contacted at webapps@gibbs.com. Press releases to pr@gibbs.com.
