C Interface Examples

The following examples provide an introduction to the AOLserver C API. More examples are provided in the "C Examples" appendix on C Examples.

"Hello World" in AOLserver C

The first example is analogous to the Hello World Tcl script example.

Hello World in C:

In your favorite editor, create the hello.c file with the following content. (You can also find this example in the examples/c/hello directory.)

    
    #include "ns.h"
    
    static Ns_OpProc Hello;
    
    DllExport int Ns_ModuleVersion = 1;
    
    DllExport int
    Ns_ModuleInit(char *hServer, char *hModule)
    {
        Ns_RegisterRequest(hServer, "GET", "/HelloWorld", Hello,
    		NULL, NULL, 0);
    	return NS_OK;
    }
    
    static int
    Hello(Ns_OpContext context, Ns_Conn *conn)
    {
    	char html[] = "<HTML><BODY>Hello World!</BODY></HTML>";
    	return Ns_ConnReturnHtml(conn, 200, html, strlen(html));
    }

Compile the module as described in the platform-specific instructions given above.
Copy the compiled module to the bin subdirectory of the AOLserver directory.
Enter the following entry to the Modules section of the AOLserver configuration file (normally the nsd.ini file in the AOLserver home directory):
```
    hello=hello.so
```
Stop and restart the server. The AOLserver loads the hello.so module on startup and invokes the HelloWorldInit function. The HelloWorldInit procedure registers the Hello function to handle the /HelloWorld URL.

After restarting the AOLserver with the hello.so module, you can open the /HelloWorld module in any browser and receive a short "Hello World" message.

An AOLserver Statistics Module

The following example is a an example C module that maintains statistics on the number of connections and bytes sent by a virtual server. The example exists in the examples/c/stats directory under the AOLserver home directory.

    
    /*
     * stat.c - Example C module.
     * 
     * This example incorporates many of the features of the 
     * AOLserver C API in a single simple, but useful, statistics
     * gathering module.
     * The module maitains statistics on the number of connections and
     * bytes sent by a virtual server.  The data is stored in a simple
     * 'StatContext' structure which is allocated when the module is
     * loaded.  The StatContext stores the current, last, and total
     * numbers and is updated after each connection by the 'StatTrace'
     * connection trace procedure.  At a regular interval (the 
     * interval in seconds is configurable), the 'StatUpdate' 
     * funcation is called to log the current and total number to the
     * AOLserver log file and then makes the current data the last 
     * data.  Access to these data is provided in two forms:
     *
     * 1.  A simple C request function, 'StatRequest', will return the
     * current data as a simple notice page.  The StatRequest function
     * is registered at the GET /NS/Stat URL of the virtual server.
     *
     * 2.  The 'ns_stat' Tcl command is added to each Tcl interpreter
     * of the virtual server interpreter pool.  This allows a Tcl
     * script to access the current, last, or total data at any time.
     *
     * Because the AOLserver is completely multithreaded, the
     * statistics data can be updated and queried simultaneously.  An 
     * Ns_Mutex is included in the ServerContext structure to keep
     * multiple threads from accessing the data at the same time.
     *
     * Finally, on shutdown, the 'StatShutdown' function is called to
     * print out a final tally and clean up the ServerContext 
     * structure.
     *
     * Note that all the features of this module are specific to the
     * virtual server it is loaded into.  The server handle, 
     * 'hServer', is used to makes sure the trace, request, Tcl
     * command, and shutdown functions are all run in the context of 
     * the single virtual server.  
     * Other virtaul servers may ignore or load the
     * stat module as well and the AOLserver guarantees the data
     * will be keep separate for each server.
      *
     */
    
    
    
    #include "ns.h"
    #include "nstcl.h"
    
    /*
     * The default statistics update interval is 1 minute or 60
     * seconds.
     */
    #define DEFAULT_INTERVAL	 60
    
    /*
     * Definitions of the StatContext structure which is allocated
     * on a per-virtual server basis.
     */
    typedef struct {
    	int	bytes;
    	int conns;
    } StatData;
    
    typedef struct {
    	Ns_Mutex lock;
    	int interval;
    	char *hServer;
    	StatData current;
    	StatData last;
    	StatData total;
    } StatContext;
    
    
    /*
     * Forward declarations of functions which will be referenced
     * in the stat module initialization function.
     */
    static Tcl_CmdProc StatCmd;
    static Ns_TclInterpInitProc StatTclInit;
    static Ns_TraceProc StatTrace;
    static Ns_Callback StatUpdate;
    static Ns_Callback StatShutdown;
    static Ns_OpProc StatRequest;
    
    /*
     * The Ns_ModuleVersion exported integer is used to verify
     * this module version when loaded.  For AOLserver 2.0,
     * 1 (one) is the only valid value for this variable.
     */
    DllExport int Ns_ModuleVersion = 1;
    
    /*
     * The Ns_ModuleInit function is the function the AOLserver
     * will call each time the module is loaded into a virtual
     * server.  The function is passed two parameters:
     *
     * hServer:   The server 'handle' as a string. This is the
     *            short name given to the virutal server such
     *            as 'server1'.
     *
     * hModule:   The module 'handle' as a string. This is the
     *            short name given to the module such as 'stat'
     *
     * For example, if this module is known as 'stat' and loaded
     * into the 'server1' server with entries similar to the following
     * in the nsd.ini file:
     *
     * [ns/servers]
     * server1=My First Server
     *
     * [ns/server1/modules]
     * stat=stat.dll
     *
     * This function would be called with "server1" and "stat" as
     * its arguments.
     *
     */
    DllExport int
    Ns_ModuleInit(char *hServer, char *hModule)
    {
    	char *configPath;
    	StatContext *ctx;
    
    
    	/*
    	 * Create and initalize the statistics context.
    	 */
    	ctx = ns_malloc(sizeof(StatContext));
    	Ns_InitializeMutex(&ctx->lock);
    	ctx->hServer = hServer;
    	ctx->current.bytes = 0;
    	ctx->current.conns = 0;	
    	ctx->last.bytes = 0;
    	ctx->last.conns = 0;	
    	ctx->total.bytes = 0;
    	ctx->total.conns = 0;	
    
    	/*
    	 * Determine the statistics interval from the config file.
    	 * The Ns_ConfigGetPath function will expand to the
    	 * 'server module specific' configuration section, e.g.,
    	 * [ns/server1/module/stat].
    	 */
    	configPath = Ns_ConfigGetPath(hServer, hModule, NULL);
    	if (!Ns_ConfigGetInt(configPath, "Interval", 
              &ctx->interval)) 
       {
    		ctx->interval = DEFAULT_INTERVAL;
    	}
    
    	/*
    	 * Register the trace to accumulate the statistics.
    	 */
    	Ns_RegisterServerTrace(hServer, StatTrace, ctx);
    
    	/*
    	 * Register the statistics update function to run at
    	 * regular intervals.
    	 */
    	Ns_ScheduleProc(StatUpdate, ctx, 0, ctx->interval);
    
    	/*
    	 * Add the GET /NS/Stat request function.
    	 */
    	Ns_RegisterRequest(hServer, "GET", "/NS/Stat", StatRequest,
          NULL, ctx, 0);
    
    	/*
    	 * Add the Tcl "ns_stat" command to the interpreter pool.
    	 * Note how the context is passed to StatTclInit which
    	 * then passes it to the Tcl_CreateCommand function.
    	 */
    	Ns_TclInitInterps(hServer, StatTclInit, ctx);
    
    	/*
    	 * Register the statistics shutdown procedure which
    	 * cleans up the context on server shutdown.
    	 */
    	Ns_RegisterServerShutdown(hServer, StatShutdown, ctx);
    
    	return NS_OK;
    }
    
    
    /*
     * StatTrace is called after each connection and accumulates the
     * statistics.
     */
    static void
    StatTrace(void *ctx, Ns_Conn *conn)
    {
    	StatContext *sc;
    	int bytes;
    
    	sc = (StatContext *) ctx;
    	Ns_LockMutex(&sc->lock);
    	bytes = Ns_ConnResponseLength(conn);
    	sc->current.bytes += bytes;
    	sc->total.bytes += bytes;
    	++sc->current.conns;
    	++sc->total.conns;
    	Ns_UnlockMutex(&sc->lock);
    }
    
    
    /*
     * StatUpdate aggregates the statistics and logs the data to 
     * the AOLserver server log.
     */
    static void
    StatUpdate(void *ctx)
    {
    	StatContext *sc;
    
    	sc = (StatContext *) ctx;
    
    	Ns_LockMutex(&sc->lock);
    	Ns_Log(Notice, "StatUpdate(%s):  Last: conns %d, bytes %d 
         Total: conns %d, bytes %d",
    		sc->hServer, sc->current.conns, sc->current.bytes,
    		sc->total.conns, sc->total.bytes);
    	sc->last.conns = sc->current.conns;
    	sc->last.bytes = sc->current.bytes;
    	sc->current.conns = 0;
    	sc->current.bytes = 0;
    	Ns_UnlockMutex(&sc->lock);
    }
    
    
    /*
     * StatTclInit is called once for each Tcl interpreter
     * in the virutal server's Tcl interpreter pool.
     */
    static int
    StatTclInit(Tcl_Interp *interp, void *ctx)
    {
    	Tcl_CreateCommand(interp, "ns_stat", StatCmd, ctx, NULL);
    	return NS_OK;
    }
    
    
    /*
     * StatCmd implements the Tcl "ns_stat" command.
     */
    static int
    StatCmd(ClientData ctx, Tcl_Interp *interp, int argc, 
        char  **argv)
    {
    	StatContext *sc;
    	StatData *sd;
    
    	sc = (StatContext *) ctx;
    	if (argc != 2) {
    		Tcl_AppendResult(interp, "wrong # args: should be \"",
    			argv[0], " command\"", NULL);
    		return TCL_ERROR;
    	}
    	if (strcmp(argv[1], "current") == 0) {
    		sd = &sc->current;
    	} else if (strcmp(argv[1], "last") == 0) {
    		sd = &sc->last;
    	} else if (strcmp(argv[1], "total") == 0) {
    		sd = &sc->total;
    	} else {
    		Tcl_AppendResult(interp, "unknown command \"",
    			argv[1], "\":  should be current, last, or total",
              NULL);
    		return TCL_ERROR;
    	}
    
    	Ns_LockMutex(&sc->lock);
    	sprintf(interp->result, "%d %d", sd->conns, sd->bytes);
    	Ns_UnlockMutex(&sc->lock);
    	return TCL_OK;
    }
    
    
    /*
     * StatRequest is a simple AOLserver request function which 
     * returns the current data in a simple HTML page.  The page is
     * generated with the Ns_ConnReturnNotice() function which is
     * used throughout the AOLserver to generate simple HTML page
     * responses with the AOLserver banner logo.
     * Ns_ConnReturnNotice() takes a string as
     * the HTML page content.  We use an Ns_DString to quickly build
     * up the string - Ns_DString's grow as needed so we don't have
     * to worry about buffer overflow.  The HTML page is a simple
     * HTML3 <TABLE> which formats the current, last, and total
     * statistics for the virtual server.
     */
    static int
    StatRequest(void *ctx, Ns_Conn *conn)
    {
    	StatContext *sc;
    	Ns_DString ds;
    	int retcode;
    
    	sc = (StatContext *) ctx;
    	Ns_DStringInit(&ds);
    
    	/* 
    	 * Build up the HTML3 <TABLE> with the latest data.
    	 */
    	Ns_DStringAppend(&ds, "<table border cellpadding=\"10\">");
    	Ns_DStringVarAppend(&ds, "<tr><th>", sc->hServer, "</th>",
           NULL);
    	Ns_DStringAppend(&ds, 
           "<th>Current</th><th>Last</th><th>Total</th></tr>");
    	Ns_LockMutex(&sc->lock);
    	Ns_DStringPrintf(&ds,
    		"<tr><th># connections</th><td>%d</td>"
    		"<td>%d</td><td>%d</td></tr>",
    		sc->current.conns, sc->last.conns, sc->total.conns);
    	Ns_DStringPrintf(&ds,
    		"<tr><th># bytes</th><td>%d</td>"
    		"<td>%d</td><td>%d</td></tr>",
    		sc->current.bytes, sc->last.bytes, sc->total.bytes);
    	Ns_UnlockMutex(&sc->lock);
    	Ns_DStringAppend(&ds, "</table>");
    
    	/*
    	 * Return the HTML page using Ns_ConnReturnNotice().
    	 */
    	retcode = Ns_ConnReturnNotice(conn, 200, "Server Statistics",
          ds.string);
    
    	/*
    	 * Don't forget to free the dstring!
    	 */	
    	Ns_DStringFree(&ds);
    
    	return retcode;
    }
    		
    
    /* 
     * StatShutdown simple prints a final statistics entry to the
     * server log and then cleans up the StatContext structure.
     */	
    static void
    StatShutdown(void *ctx)
    {
    	StatContext *sc;
    
    	sc = (StatContext *) ctx;
    	Ns_Log(Notice, "StatShutdown(%s):  Total:  conns %d, 
          bytes %d.",
    		sc->hServer, sc->total.conns, sc->total.bytes);
    	Ns_DestroyMutex(&sc->lock);
    	ns_free(ctx);
    }

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