itai tavor <itavo-@bigpond.net.au> wrote:

- I also need to push data to the workstations - based on events detected at the server, I need to bring up a message on a workstation, and remove it in response to another event. I really don't want to refresh a frame every second for this, and I also would hate to have to write a Java applet to do it.

Bi-directional communication. Hmm... no easy way out. Java applet would be the solution, which periodically pulls from the server. But this problem seems to come up more and more often nowadays. Web browsers, being pure clients, are not good enough. What we want is some technology that implements servers on the user's end. Mini-servers, if you wish. Actually, I think this maybe a long term tendency: more and more mini-servers would be running on end-users' machines. That being said, it is actually not too hard to implement mini-servers with Python. An HTTP server that analyzes the URL (which might contain port number and form data, like http://your.machine.com:8088/?x=3&y=4) and displays a message box, probably would take about 30 to 40 lines of Python code. It'll even make a beep sound if you want. :) Quite a bargain. If you want to know more, I can say more, but it kind of depend on your configuration. Web browsers (HTTP clients) made a big impact on the way how people use computers. I believe that nowadays we also need some generic HTTP mini-servers so people can respond to outside events, there is a real need for this kind of products. The possibilities are endless. I think, if I were you, I'd devote some time into this arena. :) Applets can do the job, but why restrict yourself to the tightly-controlled, hard-to-plug-in world of browsers, when a server technology can give you a totally open blue sky? regards, Hung Jung ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com