One of the most useful aspects of Corda Server is that the images it generates can be embedded into a web page using HTML—a technology so simple that pretty much any graphically based browser can display Corda images. No special plug-ins or applets are required.
For example, we could embed a Corda image into a web page using the following HTML:
Example 4.1 HTML Code for Embedding a Corda Image
<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=4,0,0,0" border="0" width="600" height="400" >
<param name="MOVIE" value="http://localhost:2001/?@_FILEexamples/apfiles/bar.pcxml@_HEIGHT400@_WIDTH600@_PCSCRIPTtitle.setText(Hello%20World)@_FLASH">
<img width="600" height="400" src="http://localhost:2001/?@_FILEexamples/apfiles/bar.pcxml@_HEIGHT400@_WIDTH600@_PCSCRIPTtitle.setText(Hello%20World)@_JPEG">
</object>
However, writing and maintaining HTML-based code for generating Corda images can be very tedious and confusing. That's why we created the Corda Embedder to generate this code for you. All you have to do is create a Corda Embedder object, set a few attributes, and then call the getEmbeddingHTML() method. The getEmbeddingHTML() method then "compiles" your Corda image and returns the code necessary to request the image from Corda Server.
The Corda Embedder is a server-side utility available in the following formats: Java, Java Tag Library, PHP, PERL, .NET, and COM (Component Object Model). It can be used in a variety of environments, including Java Server Pages, Active Server Pages, PHP, Java Servlets, CGI scripts, and ColdFusion. There is also a less functional, client-side version of the Corda Embedder written in JavaScript.
Note: The Java, PHP, and PERL versions of Corda Embedder are only available in PopChart Pro and PopChart Enterprise.
By providing you with a native interface for embedding Corda images, the Corda Embedder helps separate content from presentation. You don't have to worry about HTML code, because the Corda Embedder does this for you. Beyond that, the Corda Embedder provides additional flexibility, such as importing data from a database and adding HTML Tables of your data below your an image.
Example 4.2 illustrates how embedding images with the Corda Embedder typically works.
This process can be broken down into the following steps:
- The Web Application Server (or Corda Embedder) retrieves data or web documents from the database or web server.
- Using the Corda Embedder, the Web Application Server sends data, documents, and other instructions to Corda Server.
- Corda Server stores the data, documents, and instructions, and sends back the HTML necessary to embed a Corda image or Highwire link. For Corda images, this HTML consists of an
<object>,<embed>, or<img>tag. For Highwire links, this HTML consists of a link tag. In both cases, the specified URL source instructs the browser to get a specific reference (key) from Corda Server - The Web Application Server builds an HTML page that, integrating the HTML that Corda Server returned, embeds the Corda image or Highwire link.
- The HTML page is served to the web client (browser).
- In the case of Corda images, the browser sees the appropriate tag in the HTML page and requests an image from Corda Server. For Highwire links, a user clicks on a button that requests a Highwire translation from the Corda Server.
- Corda Server uses the reference (key) from the browser's request to look up the stored data, document, and instructions. It uses these to create a Corda image or Highwire document. This image or document is then returned to the browser.
- The browser displays the Corda image or Highwire document.
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